Area Rite Aid pharmacies now administering COVID-19 shots
TRI-CITY AREA — Last week’s snow events impacted local and statewide efforts to get residents vaccinated against COVID-19.
On Friday, the Lapeer County Health Department received their weekly delivery of 1,000 total first and second doses three days later than the usual Tuesday delivery. The delay was due to “delivery concerns by the supplier,” Director Kathy Haskins said. As a result several vaccine clinics had to be canceled and rescheduled.
“This week’s shipment is to include 900 first doses and 400 second doses, which normally would arrive Tuesday. Since the supplier is ‘catching up’ on last week’s deliveries, we’re hoping they arrive as close to Tuesday as possible. If there is an issue, we will reschedule people as quickly as possible,” Haskins reported on Monday.
The St. Clair County Health Department shared scenes from a vaccine clinic earlier this month. Among the recipients pledging their commitment to ‘community immunity’ was Sheriff Mat King, bottom right.
The health department is administering the Moderna vaccine.
According to a statement from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS), ongoing winter storm conditions in Kentucky and Tennessee are to blame for the shipment interruptions and delays.
The McKeeson distribution center in Memphis, Tennessee experienced weather-related issues in many aspects including air and ground transport, as well as work force, including personnel for packing and sorting the Moderna vaccine.
Haskins noted that Rite Aid pharmacies in Lapeer County have started to receive small amounts of the vaccine but residents are being strongly discouraged from going to these locations in person to request an appointment.
Online registrations are being taken at https://www.riteaid.com/pharmacy/covid-qualifier.
Meijer pharmacies are not administering the vaccine but are taking appointments online at https://clinic.meijer.com.
Those who live or work in Lapeer County and are eligible to be vaccinated can register for an upcoming clinic by visiting lapeercountyweb.org. Registration forms are typically opened on Monday mornings. When the slots are filled, the links will be disabled.
Those who don’t have access to a computer or require assistance can call 810-245-4163.
As of February 22, Lapeer County had 4,297 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 656 total probable cases and 117 deaths. That represents just three virus deaths from the past two weeks.
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The St. Clair County Health Department is reporting they administered more than 21,200 doses of the vaccine since it first became available in December 2020. Over a week-long period between Feb. 11-17, 1,700 doses were received and 1,994 were administered to St. Clair County residents. The number of doses received does not include extras that may be obtained from vaccine vials.
The county’s number of new virus cases rose slightly over the past week. Between Feb. 16-22, an additional 108 cases were reported as compared to 95 new cases the week prior. Fortunately the number of active cases continued to fall, declining by another 100 cases, similar to the week earlier.
Just three deaths were recorded between Feb. 16-22, a decrease from nine the week prior.
To pre-register for a vaccine clinic, St. Clair County residents and those who work in the county can visit www.scchealth.co. Users
will need to create an account and select
how they want to
be notified once an appointment is available for them.
