BOZEMAN — It’s been months since COVID-19 vaccines started being distributed, and it still seems like there’s a shortage. But now, more people are getting involved in distributing the vaccine.
“They contacted us, and we said we’re ready to go,” said Randy Harrington, the owner of Price Rite Pharmacy in Bozeman.
President Joe Biden announced a new program that would allow pharmacies to help distribute vaccines, and that’s the plan for Gallatin County.
“We’re qualified with the feds to do it, and the county health department recently reached out to us and was wondering if we would be willing to administer some of the vaccinations that they got in,” Harrington said.
Once this pharmacy gets vaccines, anyone who qualifies can make an appointment. But they haven’t received any yet.
“I think everybody’s just kind of in a state of when are we going to get it, and nobody really knows. I think it’s going to show up on our doorstep someday. I think it’s going to be a little chaotic at first, but once we get enough doses that we can schedule the people out,” he explained.
You may assume that this would be a big financial gain for the pharmacy, but for Randy that’s not the case.
“The vaccine is free from the government, so we don’t bill for the vaccine. You know, it is what it is. Hopefully, this is the last pandemic I’m going to go through in my lifetime, so I’m just going to go along with it, and if they ask me to do something I’ll do it. It’s interesting. Everybody’s working together to get this out,” Harrington said.
And when they know, they’ll let you know.
“We’ll probably get notification, I would imagine, that we’re getting so many doses, and then I plan on just putting it on our website,” he said.
Again, Price Rite does not have the vaccine yet, but they are anticipating it any day now.
President Biden’s pharmacy program includes several other pharmacies in Gallatin County and can be found through the county health department’s website.