I can’t imagine the government allowing Dollar Store employees to administer the vaccine. My hope is that an RN would be at each site to handle the actual vaccination while Dollar Store merely serves as an accessible location.
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I also wonder why they do not just set up clinics in schools, which are everywhere, and already government-adjacent, and frequently used for community events and as emergency shelters already. I understand that they need the space for students, but surely they can make some space in part of the gym for something as serious as a pandemic.
And for those areas which are so sparsely populated to the point they do not have any usual medical related establishments such as doctors offices or pharmacies, surely having roving teams of the national guard setting up weekend clinics could be an option.
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I’ve always felt a little weird visiting a school without child related business. They’ve also been very strict about unregistered visitors during school hours. High schools might be more lenient? Elementary schools seem to be smaller and more prevalent.
I’ve heard libraries suggested at one point. At least the libraries around here still have their buildings closed. I don’t know how well they cover all areas, but in a town of 5,000 they regularly helped a grandparent checkout their ebooks and use other library services. I would think they could help people signup online as well. That seems to be a big pain point in a lot of areas—especially when trying to reach out to the elderly or people that may not have access to the Internet.
Every november they have no problem opening up the gym in the local middle school to a non-student activiity on a tuesday. They just don’t have gym-class in the gym that day. They did the same where I went to school as a kid.
And, if there’s a problem with bringing outsiders in during the school day, they can always opt to hold the clinics “after-hours”. Schools around here are out by around 2:30pm, so they could hold vaccination clinics from 3pm-10pm or something like that. Later hours would also be much more convenient for the majority of adults, who can then schedule for after work.
Granted, there’s still the fear about having a bunch of potentially infected people show up to the building every day. May need to have a dedicated area set aside. But, this is, after all, a pandemic, and people will die if they do not get vaccinated. So maybe getting people vaccinated is more important then gym-class? My daughter certainly will not cry about missing gym class for a few weeks. Or the rest of the year for that matter.
While I generally agree with the sentiment that turning over an essential service to a corporation is a bad idea, and believe governments have been needlessly starved of funds, this doesn’t seem like one of those situations. Most pharmacies already administer various vaccines, especially the flu vaccine, and have most of the necessary equipment for proper storage and handling and capacity to manage the numbers of patients. Ramping up local governments to be able to manage the cold chain required for the COVID vaccine and administer it would be both wasteful and slow the process of rolling out the vaccine.
Apart from being located just about everywhere in the US, I have many questions about partnering Dollar General, questions others have already raised.
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As long as we can get as many shots in as many arms as possible, I’m not really concerned how or where they’re administered. It’s why I can’t be too bothered (I am, but not much) by people who are not yet eligible finding ways to skip ahead in line.
I’m in risk group 1b and still haven’t been able to find an appointment yet, but hey if I have to go to a dollar store to get one, that’s fine.
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I imagine that a large part of this is the refrigeration requirement. Libraries and government building are unlikely to have the necessary equipment, or even the infrastructure to handle said equipment, and schools that are open are probably using the space for food.
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On the surface it doesn’t look good but the partnership with Dollar General is probably the best route to reach those who likely face socioeconomic discrimination. Dollar General’s business model is to target neighborhoods that grocery stores and pharmacies typically avoid which, sadly, further contributes to urban food deserts. For many residents, finding transportation to a medical clinic several miles away might be a challenge and ultimately lead them to skip getting vaccinated. On the other hand, they might be inclined to think “I need bread and milk so I might as well go to Dollar General and get the vaccine while I’m there.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of Dollar General. I’d rather see people have access to fresh produce and healthy food rather than dollar store fare. I’m just trying to find the silver lining in this arrangement.
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In a related story, Dollar General is not a dollar store, though it purports to be one. It’s name is a lie.
It’s more like a Five Below, except, again, that store charges $5 and below, where Dollar General has far more expensive items.
Lots of stuff at 5 Below is more than $5. All these store names are total lies.
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I think the problem with schools is they may not have the refrigeration that is needed for the vaccine. Dollar stores sell a lot of frozen food, so the equipment is already there.
But you know what, most rural areas have access to a veterinarian.
I’d wager it’d be far safer and easier to allow vets to give the shots than someone with minimal training.
Intramuscular shots aren’t that hard to give. My wife gives me a shot of B12 every month and has no training at all. However, I’m not going to get upset with her if she messes up either. To her credit, she’s probably better at it on me than any “professional” I’ve had.
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I received my first Covid shot this morning and literally felt nothing at all. They must use exceptionally small needles because I didn’t feel so much as a pinch.
I think the issue with mass distribution of Covid vaccine has less to do with the actual needle-in-the-arm sticking but all the logistics and tracking procedures.
The site I went to only had two nurses doing the actual injections but there were probably 2-3 dozen volunteers there handling the check-ins, line management, documentation, scheduling of the 2nd dose, monitoring, etc.
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It’s confusing, but Dollar General isn’t a dollar store. It’s just a small, relatively cheap general store. Same with Family Dollar (which is now owned by Dollar Tree). Amusingly, they’re often parked across the street from each other in denser markets.
But Dollar Tree is actually a true dollar store chain. So is the 99 Cent Store chai. Both are having trouble, especially 99 Cent Store (which went as far as hiking up their prices to a scandalous 99.9 cents, along with adding premium items for more), because their corporate identity is tied to their pricing. Local chains and mom-and-pops either do the “…And More!” schtick, where anything you’d actually want is over a dollar, or are just hiking up prices across the board (everything is $1.39 or whatnot).
But I digress. I wouldn’t trust any of them to do something that requires special treatment or handling. Half the time, food items are expired or improperly stored (frozen items thawed and refrozen, etc.). I expect by the time they hit the consumer, any vaccine requiring special refrigeration would be sludgy nigh-homeopathic germ water.
Congratulations on getting the vaccine! I received my second shot a month ago and it has helped me feel better as I ease back into some pre-pandemic activity. Going back to the gym has really boosted my spirits. I’m still adamant about wearing a mask and sanitizing everywhere but at least I don’t feel trapped at home anymore.
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I agree with the market penetration aspect. If you want to roll out mass vaccination (or mass anything, really), finding a partner that is literally within a couple miles of more than half the population is a winner.
As others have noted, my concern is about the last mile cold chain management, administrative control (determining who gets the vaccine and recording the information), and administering the vaccine itself in a safe and effective manner. Dollar General’s business model isn’t about investing heavily in these areas, so even assuming the local staff sincerely wishes to do good for their community by being a vaccination site, I’d be concerned that they’d have access to the infrastructure needed to make it effective.
None of these concerns are insurmountable, and I am hopeful that the CDC is addressing these concerns in their negotiations, and hopeful that this will help speed widespread vaccinations. But I also have a nagging worry that we’ll be back to this topic in the not-too-distant future rolling out the “mistakes were made” memes…
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I figured vets and med students would be great to pull from if the bottleneck is in distribution.
I’ve been to the General Dollar store near me. (because it’s near me, got to admit that as convenience stores go, it is the most convenient since it’s nearby)
But as a potential medical practitioner, it’s pretty far down on the list. If I can’t trust them to keep the orange juice and frozen pizza cold, why should I trust them to keep medical supplies that my life depends on at the proper temperature? Pharmacies hire trained and certified pharmacists, and have (and are audited to have) the proper equipment, personnel, and procedures in place to keep and dispense medical supplies properly. General Dollar? Not so much. The freezer that can’t keep frozen pizza frozen is unlikely to keep a vaccine at a proper and consistent temperature. And the part-time staff which is half still in high-school, and half just out of it will not have the training to maintain medical supplies in safe condition, much less administer it. So, they will need specialized refrigeration equipment and trained medical personnel shipped in before they can safely handle it.
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There are vaccine options now that aren’t as cold picky.
The Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 single-dose vaccine is compatible with standard vaccine storage and distribution channels with ease of delivery to remote areas. The vaccine is estimated to remain stable for two years at -4°F (-20°C), and a maximum of three months at routine refrigeration at temperatures of 36-46°F (2 to 8°C). The Company will ship the vaccine using the same cold chain technologies it uses today to transport treatments for cancer, immunological disorders and other medicines. The COVID-19 vaccine should not be re-frozen if distributed at temperatures of 36°F–46°F (2°-8°C).
Hopefully that would be the vaccines that don’t have a (very small) risk of severe allergic reaction.
In the hockey rink 15 minute penalty box area after mom’s Pfizer shot, I noticed that they had at least a couple well-equipped emergency beds standing by, presumably with staff playing cards in a ready room, just in case.
