PALACIOS 鈥 Every year, when the annual Valentine鈥檚 Day parade in Palacios rolls around, the employees at Palacios Prescription Shoppe build a float in pharmacist Leigh Ann Roemer鈥檚 father鈥檚 barn.
The pharmacy鈥檚 entries, which in recent years have included a Beauty and the Beast float complete with dancing Beasts and Belles, a Great Gatsby float topped with a sparkly gold convertible and a Phantom of the Opera float where the pharmacy鈥檚 owner, Mike Muecke, handed out roses to the adoring crowd, have been crowned the parade鈥檚 best eight of the last nine times the event was held.
Most of the pharmacy鈥檚 employees were born and raised in Palacios, Roemer said, and when the opportunity arises to go to bat for their community, they tend to go all out. So when it came time to vaccinate their Gulf Coast community of 4,500 against the coronavirus, it was little surprise that the pharmacy took an all-hands-on-deck approach.
鈥淲e fought tooth and nail to get that vaccine,鈥 Roemer said. 鈥淲e鈥檒l always go the extra mile, because we鈥檙e small town and I feel it鈥檚 really important that we offer that service to the people around us.鈥
In the early weeks of the vaccination rollout, Texas officials primarily distributed the vaccine to hospitals and centralized hubs capable of administering hundreds or even thousands of shots a day. But in recent months, pharmacies have taken center stage in the vaccination effort.
Whether it鈥檚 providing a closer option for residents unable to drive to Bay City or 足交视频 to get vaccinated, answering the questions of community members who have doubts about the vaccine鈥檚 safety or providing translation services for the town鈥檚 many non-English speakers, Palacios Prescription Shoppe, like many of its counterparts in the Crossroads, has played a crucial role in bolstering vaccine access.
The pharmacy has vaccinated about 1,500 people so far.
At a clinic on Thursday, pharmacists warmly greeted patients by name and ushered them into a private booth to receive the vaccine. Corina Venegas, a pharmacy technician who is fluent in Spanish, helped local fisherman Jose Juan Paniagua fill out the required forms for his appointment.
The pharmacy employs Venegas and Hahn Vu, a technician who is fluent in Vietnamese, to provide translation services for members of the town鈥檚 immigrant communities, many of whom work in the fishing and shrimping industries. Being able to talk to a pharmacist who speaks their native language makes it easier for residents to seek out medical treatment, Venegas said.
鈥淭he ones who don鈥檛 speak English, they get very timid to ask for help,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 want them to leave without being able to ask the proper questions they want to ask.鈥
At the Thursday clinic, Lupe Garcia, a former pipefitter and engineer who has lived in Palacios for 60 years, said he has been a regular at the pharmacy for years. When he arrives at the pharmacy鈥檚 drive through to pick up medication for his neuropathy or back pain, the staff often has dog treats ready for his chihuahua, mutt and mini poodle, who typically ride along with him.
So it was only natural that Garcia would return to the pharmacy with his wife, Teresa Palmer, to get vaccinated.
鈥淎ll the girls, they all know me,鈥 Garcia said. 鈥淭hese people have always treated me so fine.鈥
鈥楽ickness can鈥檛 wait鈥
Muecke, who owns the Palacios pharmacy along with three other pharmacies in Bay City and El Campo, is accustomed to going the extra distance to provide medical treatment. At the age of 12, Muecke learned to drive so he could transport his father, a rural country doctor in Three Rivers, to house calls in rural areas.
Patients often turned up at Muecke鈥檚 home after hours seeking care, and Muecke tended to accident victims and cleaned up blood at his father鈥檚 office in the evenings. His father鈥檚 mantra was 鈥渟ickness can鈥檛 wait,鈥 Muecke said.
When the Pfizer vaccine became available in December and the pharmacy found itself flooded with calls from residents who wanted to get vaccinated, Muecke and his staff were determined to fight for a shipment of the vaccine. But in the initial months of the vaccination process, when vaccines were primarily distributed to hospitals and vaccination hubs capable of administering hundreds or even thousands of shots a day, many smaller pharmacies were forced to wait.
Staff repeatedly reached out to public officials to ask for an allocation, but employees were told by officials that there wasn鈥檛 enough demand in southwest Matagorda County to justify a shipment of the Pfizer vaccine, which comes in cases of about 1,000 doses, Roemer said, even as the pharmacy鈥檚 waitlist swelled to over 1,000 people.
鈥淲e were very impatient,鈥 Muecke said. 鈥淲e just had a list that kept growing and growing and growing.鈥
Lara Anton, a spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, which is responsible for distributing the vaccine across the state, said state officials have sought to distribute more vaccines to pharmacies as supply increased.
The pharmacy鈥檚 employees began crowding around the computer each Friday, when DSHS typically announced which providers would receive vaccine shipments in the week ahead, Roemer said. Finally, in early March, during the 13th week of the state鈥檚 vaccination rollout, the pharmacy received a shipment of 100 doses.
Employees sprang into action, booking appointments, setting up drive-through clinics and navigating the dizzying array of paperwork, insurance forms and patient databases required of vaccine providers in Texas, all while giving out their usual prescriptions. The shop even coordinated with fishing companies to vaccinate their employees en masse before they headed back out to the Gulf for monthlong expeditions.
Roemer grew exhausted from running in and out of the shop. At one point, she administered 60 vaccines and filled 200 prescriptions in a single workday.
鈥淲e had such a big influx at the beginning,鈥 Roemer said. 鈥淚 was losing my mind.鈥
Texas has since made other advances, Anton said, including partnering with a contractor to split up shipments of 1,170 Pfizer doses into smaller batches, and many pharmacies now offer vaccines on a walk-in basis.
State officials see pharmacies as a key part of the vaccination rollout, she said.
鈥淧eople trust their pharmacist,鈥 Anton said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 convenient for them to go get their vaccination and continue shopping and going about their business.鈥
鈥楾hey depend on us鈥
For Joe Perez, a Palacios resident who works in the shrimping industry, getting vaccinated was not an easy decision.
Perez, who attended the Thursday clinic, decided to get vaccinated because his wife, who is healthy and in good shape, suffered a difficult three-week bout of COVID-19 that sapped her energy. But he said he had to overcome concerns about the vaccine鈥檚 long-term side effects 鈥 concerns shared by many of his friends and family.
鈥淢y wife got sick, and I (saw) her, how rough it was for her,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 kind of made my decision after seeing what she was going through.鈥
Perez said roughly half of the people he knows are getting the vaccine, and the other half have thus far chosen not to.
The data backs Perez up. In Matagorda County, about 12,700 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, or 42% of the county鈥檚 eligible residents. This is par for the course in the 足交视频 region. In most counties, roughly 35% to 45% of those eligible had received at least one dose as of Friday.
Since the early stages of the vaccination process, when Palacios Prescription Shoppe was flooded with calls, supply in the community has finally caught up with demand. Now, the pharmacy鈥檚 focus has shifted toward answering questions about the vaccine鈥檚 safety and efficacy.
In April, federal regulators for 10 days while they investigated six reported cases of blood clotting among 6.8 million doses administered. After completing a safety review, officials said usage of the vaccine should resume, but the pause put a dent in local vaccination efforts, Muecke said, and concerns linger.
This hasn鈥檛 affected the vaccination rollout in Palacios, which exclusively administers Moderna鈥檚 vaccine, but demand for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine dipped from 100 to 200 shots a week to 20 to 30 at Muecke鈥檚 other pharmacies.
Meanwhile, in Palacios, the pharmacy鈥檚 staff has worked to address other doubts about the vaccine.
Longtime employee Bill Yeager, who has been a licensed pharmacist since 1961 and helped administer Jonas Salk鈥檚 polio vaccine, said he has fielded many questions about the vaccine from fellow congregants at First Baptist Church of Palacios, which sits just down the block from the pharmacy.
鈥淎 lot of people at church (ask me), you know, 鈥業鈥檝e got this, I鈥檝e got that, will you look at this, will you look at that, tell me what I need to do,鈥 Yeager said. 鈥淚 enjoy doing it 鈥 it makes me feel like I鈥檓 helping somebody.鈥
Yeager said he has heard many unsubstantiated rumors about the COVID-19 vaccine in his community, including that vaccines contain tracking chips or metals or can harm fetuses. Some of his friends are attempting to self-medicate against the virus using ivermectin, a horse dewormer that is also prescribed to treat stomach worms in humans but which is and can be harmful when taken improperly, according to the Federal Drug Administration.
Though Yeager has tried to address these concerns, he said many people he knows remain reluctant to get vaccinated, or concerned that the vaccines were developed too hastily.
Roemer said she and her staff have done all they can to answer their patients鈥 questions, even calling Moderna鈥檚 health care line to take questions directly to the vaccine鈥檚 manufacturer and providing information sheets to patients who want to learn more.
To Roemer, it is a good thing that patients are taking their time to gather the information they need about the vaccine to make a decision they are comfortable with.
鈥淭oo often, patients discount their ability to play a role in their own health care,鈥 she said. 鈥淵ou always play a role in your own health care. You play a role in getting your prescriptions filled on time, or getting your vaccine for flu, for shingles, for COVID, for whatever.鈥
Though Yeager has not been able to alleviate all of his friends鈥 concerns about the vaccine, he said the pharmacy鈥檚 employees are generally considered a reliable source.
鈥淭hey trust us, so that鈥檚 the main thing,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey depend on us.鈥
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