A pharmacist in Northern Virginia says she's concerned for the uninsured in her community after receiving notice from the federal government that it will no.
At around 9 a.m. on Jan. 15, Yodit Gulelat, the owner of Van Dorn Pharmacy, found herself facing down a growing line of elderly patients eager to get their COVID-19 vaccinations. The pharmacy had just received its first batch of Moderna vaccine doses from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the line outside her door was ballooning.
Gulelat, who immigrated to the U.S. from Ethiopia in 1986, worked non-stop to process the winding line of patients.
“I didn’t see her take a sip of water,” Pamela Norton, director of business development for a local architectural firm who had been at the pharmacy throughout the vaccination process, said.
Like their counterparts across Virginia, Alexandria’s healthcare workers are eager to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. Demand for the vaccine is definitely there, as more than 20,000 city residents have registered to receive the inoculation, according to the Alexandria Health Department.
Many of those 20,000 are increasingly frustrated, however, as the problem rests with the supply: The city has not come close to vaccinating – or even scheduling vaccination appointments – for all of its eligible residents.
According to the Virginia Department of Health’s online data tracker, 9,473 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Alexandria as of Wednesday. Of those who received their first dose, just under one-tenth, 905 residents, have received their second dose. The reported numbers include vaccines administered through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention pharmacy partnership with Walgreens and CVS.