SURRY, Va. (AP) – When Charlome Pierce searched in January where her 96-year-old father could get a COVID-19 vaccine, she found no options near their home in Virginia. There was not a single medical clinic in Surry County, and the last pharmacy in an area with about 6,500 residents and more land mass than Chicago closed years ago.
To get their shots, some residents take a ferry across the vast James River to cities like Williamsburg. Others drove for more than an hour past farms and bushveld – the country received its first stoplight in 2007 – to reach a medical facility that offered the vaccine.
At one point, Pierce heard of a state-run vaccination event 45 minutes later. There were no more appointments available, which was perhaps the best thing: the wait there would reportedly last up to seven hours.
“It would have been a daunting task,” she said, referring to her father’s health conditions and the frequent need to use the bathroom. “I could not put him in a car and wait for something to happen. We are not in a Third World country. ”
As the country’s campaign against the coronavirus moves from mass vaccination shops to pharmacies and doctors’ offices, vaccination remains a challenge for residents of ‘pharmacy deserts’, communities without pharmacies or well-equipped health clinics. To improve access, ‘the federal government has partnered with 21 companies that operate freelance pharmacies or pharmacy services in grocery stores and other locations.
More than 40,000 stores are expected to participate, and the Biden government said nearly 90% of Americans live within one mile of one, from Hy-Vee and Walmart to Costco and Rite-Aid.
However, there are gaps on the map: more than 400 rural provinces with a combined population of almost 2.5 million people do not have a retail pharmacy included in the partnership. More than 100 of the provinces either have no pharmacy or a pharmacy that has historically not offered services such as flu shots, and may not have the equipment or certified staff to vaccinate customers.
Independent pharmacies that have traditionally served in rural areas have disappeared, loss of mail order prescriptions and more competition from chains such as Walgreen and CVS, with greater power to negotiate with insurance companies, according to Keith Mueller, director of the RUPRI Center for University of Iowa Rural Health Policy Analysis.
“There are many counties that will be left out of account” of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, said Mueller, whose research center compiled the pharmacy data across the 400 counties. “In the Western states in particular, you have a great geography and very few people.”
Challenges to obtaining a vaccine near home are not limited to rural areas. According to a study, there is a relative lack of medical facilities in some urban areas, especially for black Americans published in February by the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Pharmacy and the West Health Policy Center.
The study listed 69 provinces where black residents had to travel more than a mile to reach a potential vaccination center, including a pharmacy, a hospital or a federally qualified health center. One-third of the counties were urban, including the hometowns of cities such as Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, Detroit, and New Orleans.
In addition, the study identified 94 provinces where black residents were significantly more likely than white residents to reach a potential vaccination site. The provinces were mostly concentrated in the southeastern U.S. – Virginia had the most of any state with 16 – and in Texas.
The shortage of pharmacies and other medical infrastructure in some rural areas highlights the growing inequalities in health care during the coronavirus pandemic, which has affected members of racial minority and lower-income groups excessively.
The former drug store in Surry County, where about 40% of the residents are black, is now a cafe. No one seems to remember exactly when the Surry Drug. Co closed, but Sarah Mayo, co-owner of cafes, remembers going there as a child. Now she’s driving 45 minutes to a Walmart or CVS.
“I do not know if more people will take the vaccine” if the pharmacy still exists, said Mayo (62). “But you should at least have a local person you trust who will explain the pros and cons.”
Surry County residents also went to pick up prescriptions at the Wakefield pharmacy in neighboring Sussex County until it also closed in November. The owner, Russell Alan Garner, wanted to retire and could not find a buyer.
“We became dinosaurs,” Garner said.
In January, Surry County officials saw vaccines arriving in other parts of Virginia with more people or more cases of coronavirus. Fearing that doses might not come for months, they put government officials under pressure.
In a letter to the governor’s office, Surry joined surrounding communities to raise concerns about the “equality” of vaccine, especially for low-income populations and other underprivileged people. Some of the communities said they donated money to support vaccination efforts.
“The thing about living in a rural community is that you are often overlooked by politicians up to the agencies,” said provincial supervisor Michael Drewry.
Surry County Administrator Melissa Rollins wrote to the local health district saying it was not practical for most residents to drive outside the county. She said Surry is willing to sponsor a mass vaccination site, has devised a plan to recruit people who can deliver shots and ensure residents are eligible.
The first clinic in Surry County was held on February 6 in high school in the small town of Dendron. The school district vaccinated teachers and other staff members when district and regional health district staff officials learned of extra doses, who were in a hurry to get the word out.
Surry already had a waiting list of eligible people through a survey it designed to reach vulnerable residents. It used its alarm system to use emergencies because internet access is dull.
Pierce got the call and quickly left with her father, Charles Robbins. It was a 20 minute drive to high school and a two hour wait. Pierce, 64, also got a chance, along with about 240 other people that day.
Three more vaccination clinics have been held in the country. And from March 2, the regional health district administered 1,080 doses there. The number is the majority of doses received by residents of the country, although a few hundred received their shots outside the province.
A total of 1,800 residents of the country received at least one dose. This is about 28% of the population and was almost twice the average rate of the state. About half of the people who received vaccinations are black.
The Virginia Department of Health said the distribution of vaccines is based on population and COVID. But to continue, the department said it was considering tweaks to ensure more geographical and racial equality.
Pierce and her father were relieved to get their second blows in late February. But she said Surry’s rural character hurt it in the beginning.
“I have good friends, people who are essential workers and who had to go as far as an hour to get a chance,” she said. “You should not be marginalized by your zip code.”
But driving long distances is a way of life for many people in rural areas, said Bruce Adams, a livestock farmer and commissioner from San Juan County, Utah. It’s almost the size of New Jersey and overlaps with the Navajo Nation.
“I got both shots, and I had to drive 44 miles back and forth for a public health center,” Adams, 71, said. “I do not think it’s more of a problem than we normally do in our lives … to go to the doctor, the dentist and have you chopped.”