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u.s. news Dialuna 18 Januari 2021

'Little old West Virginia' sets pace on vaccine rollout

(AP) — Griffith & Feil
Drug has been in busi-
ness since 1892, a family-
owned, small-town phar-
macy. This isn't their first
pandemic.

More than a century after
helping West Virginians con-
front the Spanish flu in 1918,
the drugstore in Kenova, a
community of about 3,000
people, is helping the state
lead the nation in COVID-19
vaccine distribution.
West Virginia has emerged
as an unlikely success in the
nation's otherwise chaotic
vaccine rollout, largely be-
cause of the state's decision
to reject a federal partnership
with CVS and Walgreens
and instead enlist mom-and-
pop pharmacies to vaccinate
residents against the virus
that has killed over 395,000
Americans.
More shots have gone into
people’s arms per capita
across West Virginia than in
any other state, with at least Rather than relying on na- volved with,” he said, taking homes, officials said.
7.5% of the population re- tional chains, 250 local phar- a break from giving vaccines The efforts have not been
ceiving the first of two shots, macists set up clinics in rural to teachers aged 50 and over. The federal partnership in- without errors. The Boone
according to federal data. communities. The fact that volving both companies County Health Department
residents who may be wary When Mark Hayes, a middle would have allowed Wash- was barred from distributing
West Virginia was the first in of the vaccine seem to trust school guidance counselor ington officials to dictate the the vaccine last month after it
the nation to finish offering them makes a difference. in Kenova, walked up to re- terms of nursing home vac- mistakenly gave 44 people an
first doses to all long-term ceive his first dose, he spot- cinations, said Marty Wright, antibody treatment instead of
care centers before the end of “As my uncle always told me, ted Griffith, who holds local the head of the West Virginia vaccines.
December, and the state ex- these people aren’t your cus- celebrity status for hosting an Health Care Association,
pects to give second doses at tomers, they’re your friends extravagant annual Hallow- which represents health care The state began vaccinat-
those facilities by the end of and neighbors,” said Ric een pumpkin-carving party companies. ing school workers aged 50
January. Griffith, the pharmacist at that attracts thousands. or older less than two weeks
Griffith & Feil in Kenova, a “If the state would've activat- ago. The governor wants in-
“Boy, have we noticed that. I town near the Kentucky state “I recognized him right ed the federal plan, the state person learning to resume
think the West Virginia mod- line. away,” Hayes said. “‘The would've had zero control at as many schools as pos-
el is really one that we would Pumpkin King? Are you giv- over the situation,” Wright sible by Tuesday, long before
love for a lot more states to A chatty raconteur and for- ing me the shot?’” said. teachers will have received
adopt,” said John Beckner, a mer mayor of Kenova, he can their second vaccine doses.
pharmacist who works at the recall generations of patrons Kevin Roberts, a 59-year-old Secretary of Health and
Alexandria, Virginia-based frequenting the shop, which school bus driver in Kenova, Human Services Alex Azar As of Sunday, over 130,100
National Community Phar- is almost unchanged since said “it makes a difference” praised West Virginia's efforts first doses have been admin-
macists Association, which the 1950s, with a soda foun- for a pharmacist he knows to to vaccinate the elderly. istered, and 23,066 people
advocates for pharmacies tain and jukebox in the front administer the shots. “I hope have received both shots in
across the country. and prescriptions in the back. that a lot of these skeptics “Expanding eligibility to all the state with a population
change their mind,” he said. of the vulnerable is the fast- of about 1.78 million people.
It's early in the process, but Griffith, 71, began taking est way to protect the vul- Nearly 55,800 of the first
that has not stopped Repub- over the pharmacy from his Officials also credit a 50-per- nerable,” Azar said Tuesday doses have gone to residents
lican Gov. Jim Justice from father in the early 1990s and son command center at the at an Operation Warp Speed aged 65 and older.
proclaiming that the vaccine was elected to the House of state’s National Guard head- meeting. He also highlighted
effort runs counter to pre- Delegates as a Democrat last quarters in the capital of Connecticut as a bright spot Mitchel Rothholz, who leads
conceived notions about the year. His daughter, Heidi Charleston. Inside a cavern- in the vaccine rollout. immunization policy at the
Mountaineer State. Griffith Romero, 45, fol- ous hall, leaders of the vaccine American Pharmacists Asso-
lowed into the family busi- operation and state health of- Given West Virginia's success ciation, said other governors
“Little old West Virginia, that ness and is also administering ficials sit between plexiglass so far, leaders are now seek- would be wise to enlist local
was thought of for hundreds shots. dividers to oversee shipments ing more doses so they can pharmacies.
of years, you know, as a place of the precious doses to five open vaccinations for more
where maybe we were back- Holding a vaccination clinic hubs. From there, deliver- groups. The Griffith & Feil “Especially at a time when
ward or dark or dingy,” Jus- at the town high school, he ies go to drugstores and local store has had to decline shots you have vaccine hesitancy
tice said last week. recalled his uncle telling him health departments. for out-of-state customers and concerns in vaccine con-
he lost four classmates to the who caught word of West fidence, having access to a
Instead, it turns out that 1918 flu pandemic, which CVS has so far declined to Virginia's success. health care provider like a
“West Virginia has been the killed more than 50 million work with state officials community pharmacist pro-
diamond in the rough,” Jus- people worldwide. on vaccinating people at its The governor recently low- vides a comfort level to the
tice said on CBS’ "Face the stores, but Walgreens is par- ered the age of eligibility for patients and communities,”
Nation" on Sunday. “And it was a tragedy that I ticipating and has joined in to members of the general pub- Rothholz added.
thought I would never be in- hold clinics at some nursing lic to 70.