PARIS, Ky. (LEX 18) — The time is coming when you’ll be able to go to your local pharmacy for a COVID-19 vaccination.
“Hopefully in March,” said pharmacist Drew Brewer who also owns the Bourbontown Pharmacy in Paris.
Brewer believes his initial allotment will consist of roughly 150 doses.
“They may do a trial run of 150 and then if we show we can handle that volume appropriately, next they may say, ‘okay you can get 300, you can handle that,’” Brewer said of the likely process the government will use when distributing to small, locally-owned pharmacies.
Over the last 10 months, since the pandemic began to spread in Kentucky, Brewer has added staff while conducting thousands of COVID-19 tests. Doing so has given his business a good road map for how to navigate the logistics of vaccinating so many people in a short period of time.
“We have a pretty good process in place to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible. I think (we did) 1,400 (coronavirus) tests last month,” he said. Brewer also mentioned the many calls he’s received from retired nurses in town offering to lend a hand administering the vaccine.
Brewer plans to send emails to his customers letting them know when to expect the vaccine to arrive, and how they can schedule their appointments on his web site.
“A lot of people we’ve talked to, and really all of our patients, are eager to get it. They have confidence in it,” he said.
Brewer said the process of being approved to become a vaccine administrator wasn’t simple.
“We kind of went through a rigorous sign-up process through the government,” he explained, while adding that the logistics of scheduling appointments will likely be a much greater challenge than giving the vaccine once people are in his store.
“The more people that get it, and the more access the general population has to it, the quicker we can get everybody taken care of,” Brewer said.
Click here to reach the state's website to find out if you are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. You can also schedule an appointment for COVID-19 testing and place yourself on the vaccine list with the Bourbontown Pharmacy by clicking here.
