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Pharmacies Considered One of Most Desirable Places to Get a COVID-19 Vaccine

It pays to be popular, at least with community good will if not that much reimbursement. And pharmacies should know. Most Americans said their preference is to be vaccinated at their local pharmacy if they can’t get the shot at their physician’s office. Here is more information from a recent survey.

SAN FRANCISCO – Most Americans, 61%, said they would prefer to get their COVID-19 vaccine at a pharmacy if the shot were unavailable at their physician’s office, which usually is the case.

That’s according to the most recent Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey. KFF reports that the three-quarters of adults who are open to getting vaccinated – i.e., those who say they will get the vaccine as soon as they can, after waiting to see how it works for others, or if required – would prefer to get the COVID-19 vaccine at their doctor’s office. Second was a local pharmacy, followed by a hospital, 55%.

Slightly fewer, 49%, responded that a community health clinic or their workplace, 48%, would be acceptable.

When asked in a separate question about their preferred location, 38% chose their own doctor’s office, followed by a local pharmacy (15%), a hospital (9%), or their workplace (8%). Many fewer,5%, said they would prefer Fewer people say they’d most prefer to get the vaccine at a large vaccination site run by the government or a community health clinic (4%), a local school (4%), a grocery store (4%), or a local church or religious center (3%).

“A little over two months into the U.S. efforts to distribute and administer the COVID-19 vaccine, and as many states and localities ramp up efforts and work out the kinks in their systems, the latest KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor shows that while the scheduling process has been smooth for most of those who got vaccinated, some older adults have had difficulty getting a vaccination appointment and many others have had trouble finding information about where or when they will be able to get the vaccine,” according to a KFF press release.

The report also advises that, among adults ages 65 and over, who are now eligible to be vaccinated in nearly every U.S. state, about half say they have already received at least one dose of the vaccine (44%) or have scheduled an appointment to do so (8%).

On the other hand, one in six older adults (16%) say they have tried but been unable to make an appointment to get vaccinated. Among those who got vaccinated or attempted to get an appointment, about half say the process was easy and about four in ten say it was difficult.

About 40% of older adults who have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine say they required help to get the appointment. Interestingly, about half of those who helped others try to get an appointment say it was difficult to get an appointment, while a similar percentage report that it was easy.

As for those who have not been vaccinated, 44% report having tried to look for information about when or where to get the COVID-19 vaccine. About six in ten (57%) of this group say the information was easy to find and four in ten (42%) say it was difficult.

Yet nearly two-thirds (63%) of those who haven’t been vaccinated say they don’t have enough information about when they’ll be able to get vaccinated, and nearly half (45%) say they don’t have enough information about where they can go to get the vaccine.

The KFF Health Tracking Poll/ KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor survey was conducted Feb. 15-23, 2021, among a nationally representative random digit dial telephone sample of 1,874 adults ages 18 and older living in the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. That included interviews with 506 Hispanic adults and 507 non-Hispanic Black adults. Those without a telephone could not be included in the random selection process, KFF said.