By Todd Epp
(Creative Commons photo via Pxhere)
DES MOINES, Iowa (KELO.com) Some local pharmacists question whether CVS and Walgreens have enough staffing to quickly administer COVID-19 vaccinations to Iowa’s nursing home residents by themselves, especially in the state’s hard-to-reach rural areas.
Iowa state officials and company representatives said they believe there are enough pharmacists and technicians to equitably reach all of the state’s long-term care facilities. But independent pharmacists said the national chains’ mass hiring initiatives and efforts to poach already-employed workers point otherwise.
A flyer from a CVS Health manager who was trying to recruit pharmacists in Des Moines.
Close
A vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is drawn into a syringe, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, on the 12th floor of the University of Iowa Stead Family Children s Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa.
Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen via AP Pharmacies question nursing home vaccine plans
By Linh Ta
Iowa Capital Dispatch Dec 18, 2020
Dec 18, 2020
A vial of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is drawn into a syringe, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, on the 12th floor of the University of Iowa Stead Family Children s Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa. Joseph Cress/Iowa City Press-Citizen via AP
This story was originally published by the Iowa Capital Dispatch, and can be read on their website here.
WHYY
By
Updated Jan. 8, 2021
This is the first article of a series in which reporters from the WHYY News Health Desk Help Desk answer questions about vaccines and COVID-19 submitted by you, our audience.
The first doses of a vaccine for COVID-19 arrived in the three-state region in mid-December, and inoculation of health care workers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware is ongoing. Readers and listeners asked us about logistics, effectiveness, side effects …
And here’s what we found.
The first batch of vaccinations began in hospitals across the region in mid-December 2020.
Who will get the vaccine first?
Each state has a distribution plan based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance that lays out phases for vaccinating the public. The plans outline who will receive the vaccine in each phase.
Elderwood facilities prepares for COVID-19 vaccine distribution weny.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from weny.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Frederick Health Hospital will receive and store nearly 1,000 coronavirus vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech in the coming days, a hospital spokeswoman said Monday.
Kelsey Shupe, director of marketing and communications of Frederick Health Hospital, wrote in an email the hospital will receive roughly 975 vaccines, but â[does] not have an exact delivery date from Pfizer at this time. However, as soon as we receive the vaccines, we are prepared to act quickly, making the vaccine available to our frontline staff as soon as possible.â
The vaccine is a two-step process, with the first dose being administered in the arm and the second being administered about three weeks after, also in the arm, said Shupe and Dr. Randall Culpepper, the county health departmentâs deputy health officer and medical officer.