Seniors aged 70 and older and educators are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine starting Monday, and CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs has been added to the five pharmacy locations that will be administering the shots in Garland County.
Each location offering vaccinations has a waiting list that is operating on a first-come, first-served basis as vaccine supply comes in, Nicki Hilliard, director of professional affairs with the Arkansas Pharmacists Association, said.
"There is a really short supply and it's going to take a while," Hilliard said. "People are going to have to be patient because there's not enough vaccine."
CHI St. Vincent vaccinations will begin at 8 a.m. Monday at the hospital. Vaccination is not limited to current CHI St. Vincent patients. The facility is requesting those eligible and wanting to get vaccinated at the hospital to register online at https://chistvincent.com/getmyshot first and wait to be contacted to schedule their vaccination.
"Since school is out, we're expecting a high volume of educators Monday," CHI St. Vincent spokesperson Joshua Cook said in an email on Friday, referring to the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday.
The hospital will be working with non-CHI St. Vincent partners to help staff the vaccination effort, CHI St. Vincent Director of Marketing and Communications Bonnie Ward said.
After having over 2,000 people submit forms to the Oaklawn Center on Aging, the center still does not have a start date for administration due to uncertainty of vaccine supply availability. The center's board chairman, Dr. Jack Porter, said it will be "at least a few more weeks" before they will begin vaccinating.
"We're moving as fast as we can," Porter said.
Other pharmacies providing vaccinations include:
• Express Rx at National Park, 105 Sawtooth Oak St., 501-623-2222. Visit http://www.expressrx.net to be placed on the waitlist.
• Fountain Lake Family Pharmacy, 4517 Park Ave., 501-547-3400. Visit http://www.fountainlakefamilypharmacy.com to be placed on the waitlist.
• Smith Drug and Compounding-Airport Road, 1629 Airport Road, Suite D, 501-767-2220. Call, or visit http://www.smithdrugandcompounding.com to be placed on the waitlist.
• Smith Drug and Compounding-Mercy Lane, 1 Mercy Lane, Suite 103, 501-624-2900. Call, or visit http://www.smithdrugandcompounding.com to be placed on the waitlist.
• Village Healthmart No. 1, 4440 Highway 7 north, 501-922-0777. Visit http://www.villagehealthmart.com to be placed on the waitlist.
ADH Public Information Officer Danyelle McNeill said if people are putting their names on waitlists at multiple places, they are asking them not to as it won't speed up their vaccination time; instead, it can cause problems with allocation of vaccine to vaccine providers.
As pharmacies are receiving a large number of phone calls, Hilliard said she urges people wanting to be put on vaccine waiting lists to visit the websites, if possible.
"They (pharmacists) need to spend their time giving vaccines and filling prescriptions because right now they are just being inundated with phone calls," she said.
Pending possible vaccine shipment, Crawford Pharmacy and Compounding has started a waiting list in hopes of beginning vaccinations on Monday or Tuesday. To be placed on the waiting list, call the pharmacy at 501-624-4636.