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MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (CBS 58) – Walgreens pharmacies in Wisconsin began administering COVID-19 vaccines on Friday, February 12, as part of a federal program with large drugstore chains.
There are 178 locations in total in the state receiving a total of 17,800 doses. Each Walgreens site will receive approximately 100 doses.
“I’ve worked for them for 49 years, and when they start doing something, they do it right,” said Mike Roets, who got the shot Friday at the Capitol and 22nd Walgreens.
Mike and Mary Roets said they got the vaccine because they wanted to do their part. They said they had no trouble getting an appointment.
“We really felt we had better luck with Walgreens,” said Mary Roets.
More than two dozen places in Milwaukee administer vaccines.
Vaccines are only available to eligible people, which includes first responders, healthcare workers, and people 65 years of age and older. People eligible for the vaccine can register online. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said Walgreens will also create a phone line.
Joe Sauer said his regular health care provider couldn’t tell him when people 65 and older could get the shot. When he heard that Walgreens would administer shots, he jumped at the chance.
“Walgreens has been very good at dealing with the elderly in retirement centers, and when they agreed to take that, I was like, ‘Why not? Why not go to Walgreens? They are easy to manage, ”Sauer said.
DHS said it has chosen Walgreens locations in underserved areas.
Stephanie Schauer, immunization program manager in DHS’s Public Health Division, said the state used the Social Vulnerability Index to determine where disparities exist.
“We went ahead and mapped out and placed the Walgreens sites on those areas, and this information helped inform which sites… are getting this vaccine,” Schauer said.
DHS data shows that 3% of the state’s black residents, 5% of Asian residents, 7.8% of Native American residents and 10.7 of white residents received at least their first dose of the vaccine.
DHS deputy secretary Julie Willems Van Dijk said part of this was due to the racial distribution of groups eligible for the vaccine.
“I think that leads to a question, which is, what can we do to better diversify our health workforce or our police or firefighters? What are the barriers that prevent people of color from becoming health care workers? she said. “What are the barriers that prevent a person growing up in a black neighborhood of Milwaukee from becoming a nurse, becoming a pharmacist, or becoming a doctor?
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