Local pharmacies establishing wait list for COVID-19 vaccine

Photo: VCU Capital News Service, C.C. 2.0

At least three pharmacies located in Fayetteville are now accepting sign ups for individuals seeking the COVID-19 vaccine.

We wrote last week about Collier Drug Stores, who are accepting emails to [email protected] for individuals in phase 1-A through 1-C vaccine priority groups who’d like to sign up for their waiting list to be vaccinated. Collier Drug has been vaccinating individuals in the 1-A priority group for several weeks.

Medical Arts Pharmacy of Fayetteville confirmed today they are also taking sign ups of individuals from the 1-A and 1-B groups. The pharmacy has also been busy vaccinating healthcare workers and others from the 1-A group since Dec. 14, and are now working to prepare for the next phase.

Those who’d like to be added to Medical Arts’ waitlist should call the pharmacy at 479-443-3411, officials told us on Tuesday.

Officials from Heartland Pharmacy in Fayetteville said they haven’t begin vaccinating yet, but they expect to begin receiving vaccine “within the next month.”

Pharmacy manager Brad Williamson told us Tuesday that Heartland is accepting signups from any individual interested in receiving the vaccine, and creating a database. Williamson said they are taking signups by phone at 479-444-7200, though they are currently working on creating an online signup option.

In addition, three local pharmacies, including Collier Drug Stores, Medical Arts Pharmacy, and Community Pharmacy will be hosting a vaccination clinic from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at Fellowship Fayetteville, located at 3447 AR-112 Highway. The clinic is only for local healthcare workers in the 1-A priority group.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson last week outlined the first three phases of the vaccination plan in the state.

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 on Jan. 18. 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 last week outlining these groups are included below.

Hutchinson announced on Monday that the state has vaccinated about 80,796 individuals in the state with at least one dose of the required two-dose regiment for the COVID-19 vaccine.

Vaccination outline