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The White House has selected specific pharmacies in each state to receive and administer coronavirus vaccines to accelerate vaccine distribution.
In Michigan, the administration chose Rite Aid pharmacies among others, but some wonder why larger chains like CVS or Walgreens were not chosen. The details of the rollout itself aren’t very promising if you ask local health officials.
See: What we know about the process of getting COVID-19 vaccine doses from pharmacies
Statewide, 20,000 doses go to Ride Aid pharmacies – 200 stores across the state. So that leaves just 100 doses per store, ”said Andrew Cox, director of the Macomb County Health Department.
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High demand, but low supply of the coronavirus vaccine is now drastically impacting the federal government’s work to engage pharmacies, such as Rite Aid.
Director Cox says when he looked at the details of the plan, it was surprising how little vaccine doses your local Rite Aid store actually gets.
“(Those doses are) not going to go very far, when you look at the populations of Macomb – the third largest population of 870,000 people – that’s not a whole lot of vaccine to spend,” Cox said.
Macomb County is a large Michigan county with a large elderly and vulnerable adult population. This week, the state sent 1,000 less than expected vaccine doses.
“It is very disappointing that a community like New Haven, in my district, has a higher (Social Vulnerability Index), just because they are north of Macomb County, people with those higher SVI factors are not as important as those in Wayne County , “Said Michigan Rep. Jeff Yaroch, who represents the state’s 33rd district.” That’s very disappointing.
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Related: Detroit Mayor Duggan meets with Biden’s government to discuss COVID assistance
Rep. Yaroch, who represents the Richmond area, says the formula the state uses to determine how many doses each county receives is incorrect. Yaroch says he wants answers, but states that the state health service and the governor don’t provide one.
Last week, the state of Macomb County gave approximately 7,300 doses of the coronavirus vaccine. This week, 1,000 fewer doses were given to the province, which says it can handle 50,000 doses per week. Officials want to know why they are getting so little instead.
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