A larger than normal allocation of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine made its way to Columbia County this week and preparations are underway to start vaccinations on local residents 65 years of age and older, Ivy Moore, owner of Wilson Bearden Pharmacy, said.
“We got 1,000 shots in this week,” said Moore, “That’s pretty much going to take care of the 70 and over list. Then next week, we will be able to start the 65 and over.”
Moore said that she was unsure of how many vaccines would come in the following week since the average intake was a little over 100 prior to the recent shipment. She said on Feb. 15 that Sen. Charles Beckham, R-Magnolia, told her he planned to try to increase the county’s allocation.
“(The vaccine shipment) came in the same way they did before, but I think he had something to do with it because we’ve never gotten a shipment like that before. I figure it was him that got that going for us,” said Moore.
Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) Public Information Officer Danyelle McNeill stated that the ADH tries to focus on areas in need and that the large number of vaccines entering Columbia County could be due to weather delays in the previous week that came in with this week’s shipment.
The Columbia County COVID-19 vaccine hotline is now accepting calls from residents who are 65 and older at 870-235-3711.