Indian-American physicians in New Jersey’s Ocean County area are coming together to volunteer and assist state and local authorities to administer Covid-19 vaccines to thousands of residents. Director Public Health, Preparedness, Planning and Education at Ocean County Health Department Dr Mukesh Roy and President of the Monmouth and Ocean County chapter of Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin (MOCAAPI) Dr Avinash Gupta, are leading the initiative.
In a statement, Ocean County Commissioner Gerry Little had said that “all hands on deck are required to administer the vaccine doses and the government cannot accomplish this alone.: Little had called for complete cooperation with all facets of the healthcare system. He had also said that almost 200,000 seniors live in Ocean County, the largest population of seniors in the state. Ocean County had requested Governor Phil Murphy’s staff to expand the vaccine distribution in hospitals.
As a response to this call, Roy and Gupta began leading the efforts where a huge number of Indian-American physicians volunteered to help administer the vaccine doses to the residents on the weekend.
In a report in the Asbury Park Press, Roy said that organizations like the Association of American Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) are helping the United States to make sure that a large population is vaccinated. Roy said: “They’re giving their time here to do that. That’s been extraordinary. I believe by six months, we should have a majority of people vaccinated.” The report also quoted Gupta. He said: “We are here every week and we are going to be here until all the residents of Ocean County are vaccinated.”
According to media reports, former President of Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) and volunteer at the initiative Alok Kumar said that in this unique collaboration, over 30 physicians from MOCAAPI have volunteered every week to vaccinate residents of Ocean County and that the physicians vaccinated over 2,000 residents in just a day.
RWJ Barnabas Healthcare Arena in Toms River is the Ocean County Covid-19 vaccination distribution clinic.
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