The Vaccine Has Arrived in West Virginia

Southern Pharmacy Was There to Meet It.

On Monday, December 14, the COVID-19 vaccine arrived at providers’ offices across the country and in Princeton, West Virginia, staff at Southern Pharmacy’s Wytheville location was there to help administer it to residents and staff of Princeton Healthcare Center. Princeton Healthcare is one of Southern Pharmacy’s customer communities.

“What a thrill it was to know that Southern Pharmacy nurses were among the first in the nation to administer the much needed vaccine to long-term care residents and their caregivers,” said Marybeth Terry, president of Southern Pharmacy. “The idea that our pharmacy was leading the charge to end this crisis brought tears of joy to my eyes.”

West Virginia is one of a handful of states nationwide that took control of the vaccination effort for long-term care facility residents and employees at the state level, as opposed to the federal program that is being coordinated through Walgreens and CVS. State leaders realized the best way to distribute and administer the vaccine is by partnering with the pharmacies, like Southern Pharmacy, that already have an established relationship with facilities like Princeton Healthcare Center.

Southern Pharmacy nurses Becki Gravley, LPN and Carrie Turner, RN inoculated 164 residents and staff at Princeton Healthcare. The state of West Virginia’s goal is to have all long-term care residents and employees vaccinated by the end of the month.

The Wytheville pharmacy held a second vaccination clinic on Friday, December 18 at Brookdale Charleston Gardens, another Southern Pharmacy customer facility in West Virginia. First in line was 103-year-old Elise Atkins, born Christmas Day, 1917, during the world’s previous pandemic. Ms. Atkins is thought to be the first resident of the nationwide group of Brookdale communities to receive the vaccine. Her sign reads: “I Got Vaccinated Because… I need it at 103 yrs.!!”