BLOOMSBURG, Pa. — The owner of The Medicine Shoppe in Bloomsburg has spent the last five weeks fighting to get back on the list of vaccine providers in Pennsylvania.
Finally, on Friday, she found out she'd be receiving doses of the shot once again.
"That was very exciting. I immediately announced to the staff that we were getting more doses," said pharmacist Jennifer Seltzer.
Last month, the state reduced the number of providers in an effort to streamline the distribution process.
But Governor Wolf says this is the next step in the vaccine rollout: getting doses to small pharmacies and family doctors' offices; places that people trust and feel comfortable with.
That was part of the reason Seltzer lobbied for local pharmacies like The Medicine Shoppe to stay on as providers.
"I think that is going to help the vaccine hesitancy issue tremendously. Back in the beginning, when we were having a little bit of a harder time getting our vaccine to get started, we had a lot of patients that flat out, I mean, they expressed multiple times they did not want to go to a big provider that they didn't know, that they didn't trust, to get a vaccine that is brand new."
Seltzer says the demand for the vaccine has gone down significantly in the past month, making distribution much more manageable for a small pharmacy like hers.
"Things are much calmer right now. We've kind of hit an equilibrium if you will where there's just not as many people in need of the vaccine but I'm really happy that we can help those that are still in need."
To schedule an appointment at The Medicine Shoppe in Bloomsburg, click here.