Local pharmacies encouraging patience for vaccines

Local pharmacies are encouraging people to be patient because the requests for the COVID-19 vaccine outnumber the amount available at this time. They have also stated that they are working on vaccinating the highest risk individuals in what the Center for Disease Control calls “Phase 1.”

“There is a lot of interest in the vaccine,” John Anderson, owner of Wim berley Pharmacy, said. “We had a really small allocation to begin with, but as this continues I’ve signed up for several thousand. Hopefully we can get a hold of those, and we’ll do clinics in town.”

Wimberley Pharmacy distributed all of their initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine requires two shots a few weeks apart. Anderson said he expects to get the doses allocated for the second dose in the next two weeks, but he does not yet know when the others he has requested will come in. He, as well as other pharmacists in Wimberley, stated that the interest in the vaccine has overwhelmed the pharmacies phone system at times. He said that when more information about the vaccine is available, Wimberley Pharmacy will post that information on their Facebook page.

While he has only administered a small number of vaccine shots thus far, he has seen no issues.

“In my experience, I have seen no bad reactions to this vaccine that isn’t expected like a sore arm or something like that,” Anderson said. “I’ve seen no serious adverse reactions, and all the pharmacy groups I’ve checked with are saying the same thing. I think we’ve got a good vaccine, and I don’t think there is any reason why anyone wouldn’t want to take it.”

Wimberley Pharmacy also stated that they are not creating a waiting list for the vaccine at this time, but they are hoping to plan mass vaccine distribution opportunities when enough of the vaccine is available to do so.

Brookshire Brothers Director of Clinical Pharmacy Programs Laura Edmundson said Brookshire Brothers pharmacies are following the state’s priority grouping system by vaccinating the healthcare worker populations and residents of long-term care facilities before moving to people over the age of 65 and adults with chronic medical conditions.

“Our pharmacists are diligently working to handle the enormous demands from people wanting to receive the COVID-19 vaccination,” Edmundson said. “We are currently seeking out members of the healthcare worker population and have begun scheduling appointments for those who are at the highest risk for severe illness from COVID-19. The transition between the groups will likely vary between Brookshire Brothers locations, depending on the demand and need within each community.”

The Wimberley Brookshire Brothers initially created a list of people that requested the vaccine and likely qualify as one of the high-risk individuals as defined by the CDC. At this time, they have stopped adding names to the list after hundreds of people signed up. They stated that the pharmacy’s phone message would be updated as any changes occurred.

H-E-B also stated that their initial allotment of the vaccine has been administered or is scheduled to be.

“H-E-B has requested another allocation of vaccine from the state of Texas,” a December 30 update on H-E-B’s website said. “Our initial allocation has either already been distributed or is scheduled to be administered. We are awaiting another allocation of vaccine from the state of Texas so we can continue to vaccinate healthcare providers as well as begin offering vaccine to those in Phase 1B. Once we have supply, we will activate a scheduler tool on our website so people can schedule an appointment.”

The web-based scheduler will be on heb.com when it becomes available.