Staff photo
One of the local pharmacies charged with administering the COVID-19 vaccine is encouraging locals to sign up to receive the shot.
Collier Drug Store representatives on Thursday made a post on the company’s Facebook page with a request for locals who are interested in receiving the vaccine to email them to get on their waiting list.
Currently, pharmacies around the state are vaccinating healthcare workers and residents of long-term facilities considered in the state’s 1-A group, however the pharmacy is asking individuals in the 1-B and 1-C group to get in touch. According to Brenna Neumann from the pharmacy, a call for individuals beyond the first three priority groups will come at a later date.
“I would ask anyone beyond 1-C to hold off on contacting the pharmacies to be put on a list at this time. The eligibility for various groups may change over the next few weeks,” she said.
Individuals in the 1-B and 1-C groups interested in getting on the list should email [email protected].
From the Collier web site:
We are currently offering COVID vaccines to those in group 1A. For those in this group, you can email us at [email protected] and we will send you a link to our scheduling website. We have appointment options at all of our retail locations that you can choose from throughout the day/week. We also have clinics outside of normal business hours that will be available through the scheduling website. Those in groups 1B and 1C can also begin to email us at [email protected] and we will add you to our list. We do not have authorization to vaccinate these groups yet but we are getting ready so when that authorization comes, we can begin reaching out to those individuals. We will continue to update you as we receive news from the health department. You can see which group you are part of by going to this link.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson earlier this week outlined the first three phases of the vaccination plan in the state, including for the first time some dates on when the state hopes to complete vaccinations of groups determined to be at a high priority to receive the vaccine.
The first group, Phase 1-A, began on Dec. 14, and includes health care workers including hospital employees along with workers in primary care, urgent care, college and university health centers, K-12 health clinics and school nurses, dental clinics, pharmacies, home health, private care/personal care, hospice care, dialysis centers, corrections officers, and blood donation centers along with EMS, firefighters, and law enforcement officials that serve as first responders. Long-term facility residents and staffs are also included in the first group. Hutchinson said he hopes to state will finish vaccinating this group by the end of January.
The second group, deemed Phase 1-B, would begin receiving vaccinations in February. That group includes individuals 70 and older, along with teachers and school staff, food and agricultural workers, firefighters and police officers not included in 1-A, manufacturing workers, grocery store workers, public transit workers, child care workers, U.S. Postal Service workers, and essential government workers. Hutchinson estimate the second group, which includes more than 400,000 individuals, would be completed by the end of March.
The Phase 1-C group would begin receiving vaccines sometime around April. This group would include people aged 65-69, people 16-64 with high-risk medical conditions, and workers in other industries including transportation and logistics, water and wastewater, food service, shelter and housing, public safety, finance, IT and communication, energy, media, and public health.
Slides the governor shared on Tuesday outlining these groups are included below.
Vaccination outline
