WDSU NBC News6
Many seniors have reached out to WDSU about the difficulties of getting their first or second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine from hospitals and big-box pharmacies.
On Thursday, we learned that smaller, independent pharmacies can help these residents navigate through the vaccination process.
DBS Pharmacy in Metairie received its first batch of vaccines, about 100 of them, in early February. Staff there once had a waiting list of about 400 older people waiting for their shots.
"By the time we ended up calling everybody, it went down to 40," pharmacist Ella Vasquez says. "A lot of them ended up going to the Northshore, to Boutte. They were chasing the vaccine."
Vasquez said she encourages her patients to sign up for several waiting lists in the area to make sure they received their dose.
It's something the president of the Louisiana Independent Pharmacists Association says many small pharmacies in the state are doing.
"If they don't have a vaccine available for one of their patients, they try to point them in the right direction on where to find one," Randall Johnson says.
There are several stories on LIPA's Facebook page from across Louisiana that indicate choosing local pharmacies can be a better option for older residents.
"Our pharmacies are there in touch with their patients...they're not pushing you to have a computer with Wi-Fi access to download some webpage, to log on as a loyalty customer, to create an account," says Johnson. Read the Full transcript & Watch the News Report