(Newser)
– When Charlome Pierce looked for where her 96-year-old father could get a COVID vaccine in January, he found zero options anywhere near their Virginia home. The only medical clinic in Surry County had none, and the last pharmacy in an area of about 6,500 people closed years ago. To get the shots, some residents took a ferry across the James River to cities like Williamsburg. Others drove more than an hour to a medical facility that offers the vaccine. At one point, Pierce heard about a state-run vaccination event 45 minutes away – but no other meetings were available, with a wait there that would have lasted up to seven hours. As the national coronavirus campaign shifts from mass inoculation sites to pharmacies and doctors’ offices, vaccination remains a challenge for residents of “pharmaceutical deserts,” communities without well-equipped pharmacies or health clinics, leaving a “vaccine gap” on AP.
To improve access, the federal government has partnered with 21 companies that run independent pharmacies or pharmacy services in grocery stores and other locations. It is expected to take part in more than 40,000 stores, and the Biden administration said nearly 90 percent of Americans live within 8 miles of one. But there are gaps in the map: over 400 rural counties with a combined population of almost 2.5 million people do not have a retail pharmacy included in the partnership. The challenges of getting a vaccine shot close to home are not limited to rural areas either: there is a relative lack of medical facilities in some urban areas, especially for black Americans, on the study. Pierce, who got a vaccine for her father at a clinic in February at a high school in Dendron, says where people live should not put them at a disadvantage. “You shouldn’t be marginalized by your zip code,” she says. Much more here.
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