A day of COVID-19 free vaccines and testing as well as HIV testing is coming to Flushing Meadows Corona Park this weekend.
As part of a national month of action to get 70 percent of people in the United States vaccinated against COVID-19 with their first dose by July 1, Stop the Spread, a national response nonprofit, Community Healthcare Network and Comunidad Latinx, a community-based organization serving the Latinx community in Corona, will co-host an event to get community members safe with vaccinations, HIV PrEP enrollment and HIV testing.
The event will take place on Sunday, June 27, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the parking lot of the New York Hall of Science, located right at the entrance of Flushing Meadows Corona Park at 47-01 111th St.
The New York Hall of Science was selected given its location in Corona — one of the neighborhoods hardest hit by the pandemic — and the organizers’ belief in science to stop the spread of the virus.
Interested community members will be able to choose between doses of Pfizer or the Johnson & Johnson vaccines. A clinician will be on site to answer any and all questions regarding vaccine safety.
The event is meant to serve community members and their families, with a special focus on the LGBTQ+ community, which is at higher risk of illness or death from the virus and where there have been challenges with vaccine uptake.
While National HIV Testing Day also falls on June 27, the event will offer free HIV PrEP enrollment and HIV testing in recognition of PRIDE month.
The event will feature free food from local taco truck vendor following vaccination, music and entertainment by local artists with their own stories with COVID-19 and why they’re contributing. Prizes include free tickets to the Mets home against the Phillies that day.
The White House set a goal of 70 percent of U.S. adults having their first dose by July 4. While New York has surpassed a 70 percent vaccination rate, neighborhoods like Corona still only have 46 percent of the population fully vaccinated.
This year’s the 40th anniversary of the HIV epidemic and on National HIV testing day the partnering organizations want to ensure LGBTQ+ community members have the access to the resources they need to get safe for the summer, especially because of the new delta variant rapidly spreading in the country.
