Michigan representatives. concerned about the launch of the COVID vaccine for pharmacies

The White House selected specific pharmacies in each state to receive and administer coronavirus vaccines to help increase vaccine distribution.

In Michigan, the government selected Rite Aid pharmacies, among others – but some are wondering why larger chains like CVS or Walgreens were not chosen. The details of the launch itself are not very promising when you ask local health authorities.

To see: What we know about the process of sending doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to pharmacies

“Across the state, 20,000 doses are going to Ride Aid pharmacies – 200 stores across the state. So that will only leave 100 doses per store, ”said Andrew Cox, director of the Macomb County Department of Health.

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High demand, but low supply of the coronavirus vaccine is now dramatically impacting the federal government’s work to involve pharmacies, such as Rite Aid.

Director Cox said that when looking at the details of the plan, it was surprising how his local Rite Aid store gets low doses of vaccine.

“(These doses) do not go very far, when you look at the populations of Macomb – the third largest population of 870,000 people – there is not much vaccine to distribute,” said Cox.

Macomb County is a large Michigan county with a large elderly and vulnerable adult population. This week, the state sent 1,000 doses of vaccine less than expected.

“It is very disappointing that a community like New Haven, in my district, which has a higher (social vulnerability index), just because they are north of Macomb County, people with these higher SVI factors are not that important as in Wayne County, ”said Rep. Jeff Yaroch of Michigan, who represents the state’s 33rd district. “This is very disappointing.”

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Related: Detroit Mayor Duggan meets with the Biden administration to discuss relief from COVID

Representative Yaroch, who represents the Richmond area, says the formula the state uses to determine how many doses each county receives does not add up. Yaroch says he wants answers, but argues that the state health department and the governor are not giving.

Last week, the state gave Macomb County about 7,300 doses of the coronavirus vaccine. This week, 1,000 fewer doses were given to the county, which claims to be able to handle 50,000 doses a week. The authorities want to know why they are getting so few.

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