SURRY, Va. (AP) – In January, when Charlome Pierce searched where her 96-year-old father could get a COVID-19 vaccine, she found nowhere near their Virginia home. The only medical clinic in Surry County didn’t have one, and the last pharmacy in an area of about 6,500 residents and more landmass than Chicago closed years ago.
To take their photos, some residents took a ferry across the expansive James River to cities like Williamsburg. Others drove past farms and forests for more than an hour – the county got its first traffic light in 2007 – to reach a medical facility offering the vaccine.
At one point, Pierce heard about a state-run vaccination event 45 minutes away. No more appointments were available, which was perhaps best: the wait there reportedly could take as long as seven hours.
“That would have been a daunting task,” she said, referring to her father’s health and frequent need to use the bathroom. “I couldn’t have kept him waiting in a car for something to happen. We are not in a third world country. ”
As the country’s campaign against the coronavirus moves from massive inoculation sites to drugstores and doctor’s offices, vaccination remains a challenge for residents of “pharmacy deserts,” communities without pharmacies or well-equipped health clinics. To improve access, the federal government is working with 21 companies that run free-standing pharmacies or pharmacy services in supermarkets and other locations.
More than 40,000 stores are expected to participate, and the Biden administration has said nearly 90% of Americans live within five miles of one of them, from Hy-Vee and Walmart to Costco and Rite-Aid.
But there are gaps in the map: More than 400 rural counties with a total population of nearly 2.5 million people do not have a retail pharmacy included in the partnership. More than 100 of those counties do not have a pharmacy or have a pharmacy that did not offer services such as flu shots in the past, and may not have the equipment or certified staff to vaccinate customers.
According to Keith Mueller, director of the RUPRI Center for the University of Iowa, independent pharmacies that have traditionally served rural areas have disappeared, victims of mail-order prescriptions and more competition from chains like Walgreen’s and CVS who have more power to negotiate with insurance companies. Rural health policy analysis.
“There are many counties that would be omitted” from the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, said Mueller, whose research center collected pharmacy data across 400 counties. “Especially in the western states you have a huge geography and very few people.”
Challenges to getting a vaccination close to home are not limited to rural areas. According to a study, there is a relative shortage of medical facilities in some urban areas, especially for black Americans published in February by the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy and the West Health Policy Center.
The study listed 69 counties where black residents had to travel much more than a mile to get to a potential vaccination site, including a pharmacy, hospital, or federally qualified health center. A third of those counties were urban, including the homelands of cities like Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Detroit, and New Orleans.
In addition, the study identified 94 counties where black residents were significantly more likely than white residents to go than 10 miles to reach a potential vaccination site. The counties were mostly heavily concentrated in the southeastern US – Virginia had the majority of all states with 16 – and in Texas.
The shortage of pharmacies and other medical infrastructure in some rural areas of the country highlights the disparities in healthcare that widened during the coronavirus pandemic, which disproportionately affected members of a racial minority and lower income groups.
The former drugstore in Surry County, where about 40% of the residents are black, is now a café. No one seems to remember exactly when to take the Surry medication. Co. closed, but cafe co-owner Sarah Mayo remembers going there as a child. Now she drives 45 minutes to a Walmart or CVS.
“I don’t know if more people would take the vaccine,” said Mayo, 62, if the pharmacy still existed. “But at least you would have a local person you trust who would explain the pros and cons.”
Surry County residents also picked up prescriptions from Wakefield Pharmacy in neighboring Sussex County, until it closed again in November. The owner, Russell Alan Garner, wanted to retire and could not find a buyer.
“We have become dinosaurs,” said Garner.
In January, Surry County officials saw vaccines arrive in other parts of Virginia where there were more people or more cases of coronavirus. Fearful that the doses would come for months or never, they began to pressure state officials.
In a letter to the governor’s office, Surry joined the surrounding communities to voice concerns about the “equality” of vaccines, especially for low-income and other disadvantaged populations. Some of those communities said they allocated money to support vaccination efforts.
“The thing about living in a rural community is that you are often overlooked by everyone from politicians to the agencies,” said County Supervisor Michael Drewry.
Melissa Rollins, Surry County Administrator, wrote a letter to the regional health district stating that driving outside the county was impractical for most residents. She said Surry was willing to sponsor a massive vaccination site, had come up with a plan to recruit people who could give injections and make sure eligible residents would be ready.
The first Surry County clinic was held on February 6 at the high school in the small town of Dendron. The school district was vaccinating teachers and other staff when district and regional health district officials were told about additional doses, prompting a rush to get the word out.
Surry already had a waiting list of eligible people through a survey designed to reach vulnerable residents. It used its emergency alarm system as internet access is spotty.
Pierce got the call and soon left with her father, Charles Robbins. It was a twenty-minute drive to high school and a two-hour wait. Pierce, 64, also received an injection that day, along with about 240 other people.
Three more vaccination clinics have been held in the province. And the regional health district had administered 1,080 doses there as of March 2. The number makes up the majority of doses received by the residents of the province, although several hundred received their injections outside the province.
All told, about 1,800 residents of the province have received at least one dose. That’s about 28% of the population and was nearly double the state’s average percentage. About half of the people who have received vaccines are black.
The Virginia Department of Health said vaccine distribution is based on population and COVID rates. But going forward, the department said it is considering tweaks to ensure greater geographic and racial equality.
Pierce and her dad were relieved to get their second shots in late February. But she said Surry’s rural character put it at a disadvantage at first.
“I have good friends, people who are essential workers, who had to go away for an hour to get an injection,” she said. “You shouldn’t be marginalized by your zip code.”
But driving long distances is a way of life for many in rural areas, said Bruce Adams, a rancher and commissioner for San Juan County in Utah, which is nearly the size of New Jersey and overlaps with the Navajo nation.
“I got both shots, and I had to drive 44 miles each way to a public health center,” said Adams, 71 ,. “I don’t think it’s a bigger problem than anything else we normally do in our lives … go to the doctor, the dentist, get your hair cut.”