OREGON, USA — Despite a federal commitment to send a million COVID-19 vaccine doses to 6,500 pharmacies nationwide this week, many local pharmacies are still unclear about vaccination appointments.
"Distribution has been shaky at best," NBC News medical correspondent Dr. John Torres told KGW.
Torres hopes the national pharmacy program helps turn that around. However, pharmacies in Oregon and Southwest Washington face some big unknowns.
Albertsons and Safeway are waiting until they receive vaccines to open online appointments. The company said 115 Oregon locations will get about a hundred doses each this week.
Costco lists 13 Oregon locations online, but nearly all did not have available appointments as of Wednesday afternoon.
Smaller independent pharmacies under the Health Mart franchise also expect doses, but have not heard exactly when or how many. Some plan to start vaccinations next week, pending vaccine shipment arrival.
Ann Walls helps run Preferred Rx Pharmacy in Vancouver. She said her team plans to reach out directly when that happens.
"We do have a list of our own patients that we will be contacting once we're good to go and once we get it," Walls said.
A Health Mart spokesperson said a vaccination scheduling website will also be available, but that site was not live as of Wednesday afternoon.
The federal government plans to eventually ramp up the program from 6,500 pharmacies to 40,000.
Although pharmacies have been planning for the vaccination process, low supply and the need for ultracold vaccine storage have added to the rollout challenge.
"It's not as easy as flu shots," said Phil Fogg Jr., CEO of Oregon-based Marquis Companies.
Marquis and its subsidiary Consonus Pharmacy were part of the joint effort with Walgreens and CVS to vaccinate senior living communities in Oregon and Washington. Consonus is about to wrap up its third and final round of vaccination clinics.
So far, 82% of Fogg's staff and 90% of long-term care residents have been registered for or received vaccination. National CDC data show this contrasts with only 38% of senior living staff and 78% of residents.
Fogg said his team focused on transparency to dispel vaccine hesitancy.
"We decided to really focus on the people that just were nervous and had concerns." Fogg said. "Gave them as much information as possible so they could make informed decisions."
Fogg said early signs show vaccines are working.
"We know it because we're testing [for COVID] so frequently," he explained.
He echoed many other experts, saying the bigger challenge in vaccinating the general public is vaccine supply.
Torres with NBC News said the situation could turn around once doses arrive to pharmacies near where people live.
"Which will make it much easier for them to actually get it, and hopefully that will get us closer to that herd immunity," Torres said.