MADISON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Department of Health Services is working to get COVID-19 vaccine to every corner of the state. This week, with more doses given to Wisconsin, DHS was able to allocate more doses to small pharmacies. But some pharmacies still haven’t received any vaccine.
Neuhauser Pharmacy on Monroe Street was initially told they wouldn’t get any vaccine for the third week in a row, but DHS later said they would be allocated 60 doses for the upcoming week.
“I requested 120,” said Maren Rasmussen, a pharmacist at Neuhauser Pharmacy. “At this point, I’m happy to get some. And if it’s half of what I request, it’s half of what I request. But at least I can help 60 more people.”
With their first shipment three weeks ago, Neuhauser was able to get through most of their customers who are older than 80 years old. So next week’s doses will go to people in their 70s — both regular customers of the pharmacy and people who have filled out a contact form online.
Rasmussen said about 550 people have filled out a contact form stating their interest in a vaccine from Neuhauser, although not everyone on that list is currently eligible.
“That’s what I’ve been recommending, even to our patients, is to get on multiple lists throughout the Madison area. And then some people have gotten on lists in other places, just because it gives them the best chance of getting a dose,” said Rasmussen.
But in smaller towns, there aren’t many options.
In Pardeeville, Hometown Pharmacy is the only pharmacy in the village, but they haven’t been allocated any doses. They’ve been requesting the minimum 50 doses, but are denied each week.
“It’s been, you know, a little frustrating of course. We have close to 600 people on our wait list,” said pharmacy manager Morgan Deakin.
Deakin said many people on that list are non-affiliated healthcare workers who still haven’t have a chance to be vaccinated. People are constantly calling to request vaccine and ask why it isn’t available.
“We try to answer everything as best as we can, but a lot of it is unknown until we get that denial back from the state or we get an approval,” said Deakin.
She said the closest other pharmacy is in Portage, about 30 minutes away, but many people older than 65 can’t make that drive or don’t have access to transportation to get them there.
“We do understand that there is a shortage of vaccine in the state right now, and not every request gets an answer, but we do think that we could provide a lot of good here and could potentially scale up,” said Deakin.
Neuhauser Pharmacy will be doing their vaccinations Tuesday and Wednesday, scheduling appointments every 15 minutes. A coffee shop on the same block, Crescendo Espresso Bar, is helping out by opening their doors for patients to be monitored there after receiving their shots.
Neuhauser also uses UW School of Pharmacy students who volunteer to help give vaccines.
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