Pharmacists gave shots back in the old days, for things like vaccines for influenza, MMR, etc.
But the volume is or was much higher this year when a large portion of the population all wanted COVID-19 vaccines.
1 Like
My fav pharmacist says he goes home from his retail pharmacy and cries most days. The pressure is awful and competing demands and responsibilities. It’s sad and very dangerous.
Fortunately, his pharmacist wife switched to the VA and it’s a different pressure and set if demands.
That’s new to me–I never got a vaccine anywhere but a doctor’s office in the “old days.” Flu shots started showing up in pharmacies maybe a couple decades ago, in my experience, as a convenience, but I still got them at my doc’s till fairly recently. Maybe it was different elsewhere.
My employer (local govt) started giving flu shots on site at least 24 years ago. Then they stopped for several years and started up again a few years back. H’s employer (school system) was hit or miss. some years they had clinics, but not on-site.
Once my kids were old enough to not need pediatric doses, we all just started going to Target (now CVS). It is much more convenient for us as we are there once a week anyway. And our store is usually pretty empty, especially by the pharmacy. Plus, they gave us each $5 gift cards! Now it’s $5 off a $20 purchase, but we did get two - one for Target and one for CVS. H also got his shingles shots there and I will as well next year on my 50th bday.
Going to the doctor here is a royal pain in the rear experience that lasts a couple of hours. It wouldn’t occur to me to get a vaccine at a doctor’s office.
1 Like
Ha! Not in MY “old days”. Started in the late 90’s.
3 Likes
when pharmacists started vaxxing is based on state law. (docs were against it, of course) Regardless, all 50 states now allow it, but only since '09 – not sure who the last states were – …
…and its popular.
"According to the Prescribe Wellness 2017 Vaccination and Preventive Care Survey, 62% of respondents chose their pharmacy over their other settings, mostly due to convenience. "
There are more pharmacist jobs now than pre-Covid but pharmacist wages have dropped considerably over the last several years. It’s rough for the new grads who started pharmacy school expecting a solid salary, took on a ton of debt (a lot like med school) and graduated into a market where starting salaries have taken a dive. There are some signing bonuses showing up again and increasing retail pharmacist job openings in rural areas especially but salaries are a lot less than a few years ago.
My Moderna booster appointment was scheduled for 3 pm today. I arrived at 2:45. Unlike Walgreen’s, I didn’t have to fill out any paperwork since I had submitted it online. There was no line. The pharmacist filled out my vaccination card and asked me to have a seat. By 2:49, I was vaccinated! I was very impressed. She did say they are giving lots of booster shots all day, every day. They don’t have to deal with kids since they don’t have Pfizer.
1 Like
My Modena booster appointment was also scheduled for today. I had made appt online and had to go thru CVS’s 20 questions, plus upload pics of my insurance card. Got confirming text message, which gave me link to click upon my arrival at store. I arrived 10 mins early, clicked to let them know I was here…and was instructed to go to the appropriate line near pharmacy. I did…only to see a handwritten sign telling me they were out of Moderna and to go online and make appt for later this week. Argh!
Then got text with survey about their online service. Probably not best time to ask me.
Returned to my car…and got text telling me my appt was canceled. argh.
Got home and tried to re-schedule. Had to re-invent the wheel again with all my info. 15 minutes and tons of clicks later, first appt I could get is in ten days. May have to try Walgreens, as CVS is ticking me off right now…
The photo of the insurance card was asked for but not required. I didn’t upload photos.
I would be annoyed too, though!
Loved getting my booster at a state-run mass vaccination site. (I’d tried the pharmacies, but 2 of the 3 I tried weren’t letting me get a different brand than my initial series, while the 3rd did but appts. weren’t as available as I wanted.) Easy to schedule at the mass vax site, and a bonus was that no insurance card uploading was required.
I didn’t have to upload my insurance card. Just entered my ID info. I had to wait only four minutes to be vaccinated. The mass site took a good hour by the time I parked, walked to the building, and waited in line.
1 Like
ID? ID for the pharmacy? I didn’t have any ID for any pharmacy, so maybe that is why I had to upload my insurance card? My H got his booster at a pharmacy, and had to do so. Understandably, the pharmacies get that vaccine administration fee, hence the request for the insurance information.
Different mass vaccination sites, different experiences. I walked right into ours, got signed in, and walked right up to a table to get my booster shot.
I took that to mean that ML put in her insurance card ID numbers-group plan #, ID#, etc. when asked rather than uploading a photo of the card. That’s what I did.
Yes, that’s what I meant - insurance ID number had to be typed in.
Interesting…D thinks he had to upload a photo of his insurance card to the CVS website when making his booster appointment.
Fwiw, I got my booster at a Walgreens and didn’t need any insurance info. I couldn’t find my card when I was making the appointment so I skipped the screen. I thought I would be asked for it when I arrived to get the shot but wasn’t. I don’t know how or who they charged.
H and I got the Pfizer booster yesterday morning at Walgreens. Sore arms. Just 21 hrs out. Got all three at a Walgreens. Took about 1/2 hr as the pharmacy was behind. They said they only do Pfizer at that rural Colorado pharmacy and that the reason people are coming in for the shot series is job requirements. What ever it takes is ok by me.
1 Like
CVS made me, H and FIL all show our drivers’ licenses when we got our booster. That’s why we are struggling a bit with getting MIL. She has lost ALL of her identifying paperwork. (She has Alzheimer’s and Sundowning and in the middle of the night she moves and hides everything. Or throws it away as far as anyone can tell.) we hoped the rehab place would have been able to give it but she was discharged the day before Moderna was approved.
It said recommended or something but you didn’t have to. It didn’t cause any issues for me.