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Something I found out this past weekend which puts the controversial @60Minutes story & the apparent decrease in demand for vaccines into greater context (tagging @POTUS for this due to the Fed Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID Vaccines): (1/12) https://twitter.com/N3GatorFan/status/1379038995892613120
Thanks to the low population density of the area, many rural stores are considered to be "low-traffic" stores. Therefore, they receive far fewer vaccines than urban and suburban stores. (2/12)
For example, the pharmacy tech at my Walmart told me that they received only 100 vaccines...after the shipment was delayed several times. They told me that, once the availability went online, every appointment slot was booked within 5 minutes. (3/12)
So, even if the @CDCgov 's Vaccine Finder shows the store has vaccines in stock, there really are none at that location for long periods of time. When people go online to schedule their appointment, they receive the message that the store is out of stock/there are no... (4/12)
...appointments available at that location for weeks. People then have three options: try to score an appointment further from home, keep trying until they get one (the route I chose), or give up looking for one altogether. (5/12)
Hence, the long drives to a larger city for the vaccine & the frustration about scheduling appointments. Plus, it's a likely cause for the drop in demand for vaccines as the limited number of vaccines & the low population density mask the high demand for them. (6/12)
Granted, in many rural areas, this is normal for many supplies & services on a good day. (e.g., Matt Damon's character in We Bought a Zoo complains about going 9 miles 1-way for butter. That's normal for me.) (7/12)
During a pandemic, though, this could lead to disaster in the long run if the supply issue isn't addressed. If the problems are at the federal level, then it's up to the President & the CDC to correct that. (8/12)
If there are additional steps, such as states/corporate HQs deciding where vaccines will be shipped, then we have this complication & potential for corruption across the country, not just in FL. DeSantis just exposed the loopholes that can be legally exploited... (9/12)
...without fear of punishment or public outrage which leads to major change. In any case, hopefully, an increased availability of vaccines should remedy many of the complications in getting a vaccine. (10/12)
Going to add here that there also needs to be a continual reminder that the local stores' pharmacies are a vaccination site. My local paper mentions only the ones for the next county over. (11/12)
If I didn't hear about CVS, Walmart, & Winn-Dixie offering vaccines early on, I would have never thought about them as an option. The same probably holds true for many people across the country. How do they know about it if they don't hear about it from their local media? (12/12)
