Q: What is the Bridge Access Program? Where can my patient get a free updated COVID vaccine?
A: The Bridge Access Program is a partnership between CDC, private health care providers, federally supported health centers and retail pharmacies to provide COVID-19 vaccines at no cost to uninsured adults. Any adult in the U.S. who is 18 years of age or older and is not covered by private health insurance, Medicare or Medicaid is eligible to receive the vaccine free of charge (children and teens under age 18 who do not have insurance are eligible for free COVID-19 vaccines through the Vaccines for Children program).
State and local health departments are working with providers to distribute the updated vaccines. Patients can also receive the vaccine at community-based health centers in their area or a local retail pharmacy. CDC has contracted with Walgreens, CVS and eTrueNorth to provide no-cost vaccines through its Increasing Community Access to Testing program.
A full, searchable list of no-cost vaccine providers is available at vaccines.gov.