Where else can you get a COVID vaccine in SC? Try these local Lexington Co pharmacies
As vaccine-seekers flood big inoculation events and chain pharmacies looking for a jab to protect against COVID-19, they may be overlooking smaller pharmacies that could give them the same much-needed dose.
At Lexington Pharmacy, appointments are booked until March 30, but pharmacist Dhruti Patel said they frequently have openings come up.
“Every day, we have someone cancel, or another opening come up, so people can still get it,” Patel said.
Lexington Pharmacy, which opened last year on Scarborough Drive off Augusta Highway, uses the VAMS system to make appointments like hospitals and agencies performing vaccinations.
Since South Carolina opened up vaccine eligibility on March 8, the pharmacy has vaccinated 130 people, Patel said.
Many smaller pharmacists feel they can offer a more personal experience for patients who can be overwhelmed by the sudden rush for scarce vaccine appointments.
“We can do a lot of things better than the big chains,” said Chad Hancock, manager of Gaston Family Pharmacy. “We don’t have long wait times... At some of these events, you have everybody waiting in their cars for hours.”
Gaston Family Pharmacy on Mack Street has already run through its first shipment of 300 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, but Hancock expects more to arrive soon. Once they do, the store will take appointments on its website, gastonfp.com.
Demand is so high, the small pharmacy has had customers drive from Charleston and Rock Hill to get their jab in Gaston.
Others local shops are still waiting to receive their first shipment of the vaccine. Discount Drugs of Swansea put in an order for its customers almost six months ago, but the vials never arrived, said pharmacist Buck Ray.
“I’ve heard from other pharmacies that put in at the same time, and then they find out they’re getting it and it arrives within 24 hours,” Ray said.
Pine Ridge Pharmacy encourages vaccine-seekers to check its website, mcqrx.com, regularly, as new appointments are added as shots become available.
“I say check every Monday morning,” said owner Kyle McHugh, who also operates the Chapin and Gaston pharmacies. “We had some this morning, and they got sucked up pretty quick.”
McHugh says a customer who gets vaccinated in a local pharmacy can count on more attention than at a “drive-by” vaccination event “where they watch you for 15 minutes,” he said. “We’re on a smaller scale.”
But Hancock doesn’t see his store in opposition to other providers trying to vaccinate as many people as possible. He sees them as part of the same public health effort.
“It’s not a competition,” he said. “We want to get the whole population vaccinated.”
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