NEW MARLBOROUGH, Mass. – The Community Health Programs’ mobile health unit has been converted to a mobile vaccine clinic, and it’s driving to all corners of Berkshire County in an effort to vaccinate as many people against COVID-19 as possible. 


What You Need To Know

  • Community Health Programs is running a mobile vaccine clinic
  • They’re focusing on vaccinating people on Medicare and Medicaid, and in rural communities
  • People in rural areas face numerous barriers to getting access to vaccines
  • Vaccine rates in these populations are well below state-wide levels

“We’ve done over 3,000, I think,” said mobile health unit nurse practitioner Kathleen Floyd. “At first it was incredibly busy, and it’s a little less busy now. And it’s been rewarding, people have been so appreciative.”  

The mobile clinic has been distributing vaccines since January, focusing mostly on people on Medicare and Medicaid, and in rural communities.

There tends to be more vaccine hesitancy among those populations, but C.H.P.’s long history in the community helps alleviate some of those concerns.

“We’ve been coming out here on the Mobile Health Unit for, I’ve been doing it, for almost a decade,” said Floyd. “And I think people trust us and look forward to when we get out here.”

Vaccine hesitancy isn’t the only problem they’re dealing with. Many people in rural communities face several barriers to vaccinations, such as lack of access to public transportation or the internet.

“It’s not that they don’t want to get the vaccine,” said C.H.P CEO Lia Spiliotes. “It’s like, how can they do it? If you don’t have internet, you can’t schedule an appointment online at a brick-and-mortar clinic. It makes it just an impossibility to get in.”

According to Spiliotes, vaccine rates in the populations they’re serving are well below state-wide levels, so they’re working on getting a second mobile clinic to help close the gap.

“Instead of 800 or 900 a month,” said Spiliotes, “We could double and do 1,800 to 2,000 a month, and be sure that we reach a broader population, and I think that’s what we need to do.”