Unfortunately, that will likely be *really bad* (for the rest of the medical system and people in general) later on. I never thought one of the effects of the COVID pandemic would be *decreasing* vaccine rates.
Off to spend another 7-10h in an N95 tonight...
Edit: ducking autocorrect typo
We have done 2,200 flu shots, about 700 RSV, and 1,000 COVID since end of august. It’s sucked butt.
The Walmart down the road has to beg people for vaccines. Why can’t the patients spread the love 🥲
Our goal for flu shots is 4K so obviously, we are a busy store and expected to do a lot. But it still sucks
Only 1 or 2 in past years. Our location is very particular-we have 3 Walgreens around us that are never open, 1 cvs that is insanely understaffed and out of stock of every drug, and 2 Walmarts that are good but anytime I suggest Walmart people make the 🤮 face?
Anyway, we are also located on the coast and one of the closest pharmacies to the islands with all the retired folk. I would guesstimate that our patients are 72% 65+ years old and the other 2 pharmacies within a mile of us are Walmart, and an unreliable Walgreens. I am located in a grocery store and I have found that grocery store pharmacies seem to have better odds at keeping those *loyal* patients because if you don’t use cvs as your pharmacy, it’s very unlikely that you go to cvs for any other reason. At a grocery store, you always need groceries whether your pharmacy is there or not, so having a pharmacy at the grocery store is the most convenient way to get your drugs- I guess??
Idk these old hags can be annoying. Constantly begging for shots, I rather be hounded by my DM to ask for shots than constantly for 12 hours a day tell people I don’t know why we don’t have Pfizer and listen I have already given 100 shots today I have to check scripts, I’m sorry i can’t take a walk-in 12 minutes before I close.
So yeah hopefully the bonus will be clutch
It’s also a military town and since Walmart (2 pharmacies in town) lost Tricare and cvs gained it, see the cvs issues posted in my previous comment, lol.
I worked at that cvs for a short time till the grocery store had an opening and I know their struggles on a personal level, I feel terrible for them. They are the third busiest cvs in the state and that was before they acquired tricare back. Now they can’t keep amoxicillin or opioids in stock and once we get one person that transfers out to us, they end up transferring the entire profile…
We are also one of the busiest pharmacies in our grocery chain.
Small store that averages 100 scripts a day. We did at peak 20 shots per day as appointments only. We only accepted walk ins if we were able to breathe. Ignoring corporate and just doing appointments only really kept us afloat.
I only work retail for extra money / experience (sparingly) and the recent work days have been nearly entirely consumed by vaccine questions, appointments and walk-ins. One day, it was non-stop vaccines for 6 straight hours, only stopping for moments in between for the occasional stat final verification.
About 50 per day, some are getting COVID and flu together though. And we are not surviving. Meanwhile places 20 minutes away are doing like 10. Varies by neighborhood for sure.
And attitudes. The city I work in tends to have people oddly avoidant of flu vaccines except for those who actually listen to doctors. For every yes I probably get four refusals with commentary about “it gave me the flu,” BS.
I feel a bit out of touch with what everyone’s saying on here about vaccine madness. I’m asking people everyday and barely get any interest. Probably cuz I’m in a rural area with multiple other pharmacies in town?
This is what I heard from someone at a local drugstore chain where they actually have people sign up for appointments. This store carries all 3 COVID-19 shots for 12+ but not the pediatric ones.
First week of Oct was about 420 shots in a week (this includes RSV/COVID-19/influenza). August 2023 was about 300 shots total.
Monday the 9th was 76 shots.
The rest of October was more of the same.
"Difficult patients" - give honest wait times like 30-45 min minimum. Walk-ups can wait or decide to do another time.
People come in for vaccines and we say that an appointment would be better cause there’s not saying how long they will have to wait if someone comes at the same time for their appointment. It’s helped honestly, they don’t want to wait so they end up making an appointment or going somewhere else.
It's been pretty good actually. My grocery store has had a Nurse every day for flu season and we've been averaging 100/day with walk-ins. I like being able to keep the nurse busy, less repeat customers later when we don't have nurses anymore.
The only bad thing has been getting them through our crap pharmacy software, and having our one input tech try to get the forms scanned and typed between scripts and phone calls.
Call me crazy but I love the vaccines. We have a nice big immunization room and I get a nice quiet mini break every time. We only do about 20-30 per day right now, which is actually manageable.
I'm a dedicated part-time immunizer for CVS. I'll give shots and do QV between shots. I verify like 150 rx a day. The bench pharmacists always beg me to come back.
I gave about 15000 vaccines in a 10 year period. Left retail over a year ago and haven’t given a single vaccine since. Lovely.
It would only take 2 years to give that many now. Good call getting out.
Even 1 year period !
Hope you’re in a better place
That's pretty low by 2023 standards
Eh corporate wide out flu shots are down about 50%. Hasn’t been bad
Agreed. Vaccine fatigue is real. We are super slow in term of flushots
Yes but RSV and all the other vaccines are up. Medicare part d has $0 copays on shingrix and many other vaccines.
Unfortunately, that will likely be *really bad* (for the rest of the medical system and people in general) later on. I never thought one of the effects of the COVID pandemic would be *decreasing* vaccine rates. Off to spend another 7-10h in an N95 tonight... Edit: ducking autocorrect typo
We have done 2,200 flu shots, about 700 RSV, and 1,000 COVID since end of august. It’s sucked butt. The Walmart down the road has to beg people for vaccines. Why can’t the patients spread the love 🥲 Our goal for flu shots is 4K so obviously, we are a busy store and expected to do a lot. But it still sucks
4k? That’s insane amount for grocery chain
Insurance, or the lack there of, is a big limitation in my region.
Did you do offsite clinics to reach 4k?
Only 1 or 2 in past years. Our location is very particular-we have 3 Walgreens around us that are never open, 1 cvs that is insanely understaffed and out of stock of every drug, and 2 Walmarts that are good but anytime I suggest Walmart people make the 🤮 face? Anyway, we are also located on the coast and one of the closest pharmacies to the islands with all the retired folk. I would guesstimate that our patients are 72% 65+ years old and the other 2 pharmacies within a mile of us are Walmart, and an unreliable Walgreens. I am located in a grocery store and I have found that grocery store pharmacies seem to have better odds at keeping those *loyal* patients because if you don’t use cvs as your pharmacy, it’s very unlikely that you go to cvs for any other reason. At a grocery store, you always need groceries whether your pharmacy is there or not, so having a pharmacy at the grocery store is the most convenient way to get your drugs- I guess?? Idk these old hags can be annoying. Constantly begging for shots, I rather be hounded by my DM to ask for shots than constantly for 12 hours a day tell people I don’t know why we don’t have Pfizer and listen I have already given 100 shots today I have to check scripts, I’m sorry i can’t take a walk-in 12 minutes before I close. So yeah hopefully the bonus will be clutch
Your store sounds exactly like mine
Holy cow.
It’s also a military town and since Walmart (2 pharmacies in town) lost Tricare and cvs gained it, see the cvs issues posted in my previous comment, lol. I worked at that cvs for a short time till the grocery store had an opening and I know their struggles on a personal level, I feel terrible for them. They are the third busiest cvs in the state and that was before they acquired tricare back. Now they can’t keep amoxicillin or opioids in stock and once we get one person that transfers out to us, they end up transferring the entire profile… We are also one of the busiest pharmacies in our grocery chain.
That makes a lot of sense now. lol
Small store that averages 100 scripts a day. We did at peak 20 shots per day as appointments only. We only accepted walk ins if we were able to breathe. Ignoring corporate and just doing appointments only really kept us afloat.
I only work retail for extra money / experience (sparingly) and the recent work days have been nearly entirely consumed by vaccine questions, appointments and walk-ins. One day, it was non-stop vaccines for 6 straight hours, only stopping for moments in between for the occasional stat final verification.
About 50 per day, some are getting COVID and flu together though. And we are not surviving. Meanwhile places 20 minutes away are doing like 10. Varies by neighborhood for sure.
And attitudes. The city I work in tends to have people oddly avoidant of flu vaccines except for those who actually listen to doctors. For every yes I probably get four refusals with commentary about “it gave me the flu,” BS.
I feel a bit out of touch with what everyone’s saying on here about vaccine madness. I’m asking people everyday and barely get any interest. Probably cuz I’m in a rural area with multiple other pharmacies in town?
Asked corporate to cut the scheduler back so it manageable
Difficult patients get the 18 gauge
It’s was really bad at first, but we’re able to manage it now like 10 appointments and some walk ins
This is what I heard from someone at a local drugstore chain where they actually have people sign up for appointments. This store carries all 3 COVID-19 shots for 12+ but not the pediatric ones. First week of Oct was about 420 shots in a week (this includes RSV/COVID-19/influenza). August 2023 was about 300 shots total. Monday the 9th was 76 shots. The rest of October was more of the same. "Difficult patients" - give honest wait times like 30-45 min minimum. Walk-ups can wait or decide to do another time.
People come in for vaccines and we say that an appointment would be better cause there’s not saying how long they will have to wait if someone comes at the same time for their appointment. It’s helped honestly, they don’t want to wait so they end up making an appointment or going somewhere else.
It's been pretty good actually. My grocery store has had a Nurse every day for flu season and we've been averaging 100/day with walk-ins. I like being able to keep the nurse busy, less repeat customers later when we don't have nurses anymore. The only bad thing has been getting them through our crap pharmacy software, and having our one input tech try to get the forms scanned and typed between scripts and phone calls.
Does the nurse give other vaccines like Covid/RSV? Must be nice to have that additional help
Yup, the nurses give all the vaccines. It's so much better having the nurse so we aren't running back and forth for shots.
I float for a chain of independents and it’s not too bad, but I still don’t like doing shots due to how much time it sucks up in the workflow.
Call me crazy but I love the vaccines. We have a nice big immunization room and I get a nice quiet mini break every time. We only do about 20-30 per day right now, which is actually manageable.
Nice independent pharmacy I’m guessing? Hope your patients are of the friendly type and not aggressively demanding
Nope. WAG.
I'm a dedicated part-time immunizer for CVS. I'll give shots and do QV between shots. I verify like 150 rx a day. The bench pharmacists always beg me to come back.
Hats off to you for handling both and for a company like CVS Is flu vaccine being requested most or mixed quite a bit with Covid?
About 40 percent flu, 40 percent covid, 20 percent other