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Local residents will soon be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine at Powell Drug.
Owner David Klinger said the store doesn’t have the vaccine yet, but he expects Powell Drug will begin …
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Local residents will soon be able to get the COVID-19 vaccine at Powell Drug.
Owner David Klinger said the store doesn’t have the vaccine yet, but he expects Powell Drug will begin offering it this month or April.
“I’m expecting it literally any time now,” Klinger said. “We’re close, probably within a month,”
Powell Drug’s wholesaler, AmerisourceBergen, is working with the Centers for Disease Control to get independent pharmacies lined up to receive the vaccine, and the Powell store has met all the requirements to receive doses when they’re available.
“Hopefully soon, we’ll all be healthy, together,” Klinger said.
Powell Drug doesn’t have the deep freezer required for the Pfizer vaccine, which must be stored at temperatures of minus 76 degrees to minus 112 degrees Fahrenheit, but they do have a refrigerator that can store the vaccines on a shorter basis.
“Maybe we’ll get 20 doses one week and then 20 the next,” Klinger said.
Eventually, Powell Drug will be registered with VaccineFinder (vaccinefinder.org), a website that lists providers offering the vaccine. The store will also have a phone app people can use, coordinated with the CDC. It will allow people to report any adverse reactions and provide valuable data to improve vaccine safety.
The federal government is paying for the vaccine, so the doses themselves are free to the public. Powell Drug will charge for its administration costs, but Klinger said almost all major insurers cover those costs, as will Medicare Plan B.
“Most people will see a zero co-pay,” he said.
Klinger added that people will need to make appointments, with no walk-in vaccinations offered. There are still restrictions on who can get the vaccine, but Klinger said he expects it will be rolled out to much of the general population soon; President Joe Biden said last week that he wants every adult in the U.S. to be eligible for a vaccination by May 1.
“By the time we get the vaccine, I think we’re going to have our hands freed up a lot more as to who can get it. We’re excited to be able to do it,” Klinger said.
