Walgreens Split From Everbridge Shouldn’t Hurt COVID-19 Vaccination Effort in West Virginia
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The departure of Walgreens from West Virginia's COVID-19 vaccination scheduling system should have no negative impact, the head of the state's vaccination task force said Wednesday during Gov. Jim Justice's online coronavirus briefing.
In fact, it could be beneficial.
"We needed another parallel path to get to folks, and that's what this is about," said James Hoyer, who has continued to lead the interagency task force overseeing vaccinations since his retirement from the West Virginia National Guard.
Some people who are hesitant to take the COVID-19 vaccine might be more likely to do so based on the advice of a trusted pharmacist or physician, he said.
"Some people are not going to sign up centrally," Hoyer said.
A West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources spokeswoman said Wednesday that the task force "agreed to allow Walgreens to transition to their existing scheduling platform."
A request for additional information on the move from Walgreens had not been answered as of Wednesday evening.
Hoyer said additional vaccine doses are provided to Walgreens in West Virginia as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, so the change won't affect the number of vaccines the state receives. People who got their first inoculations from Walgreens will be contacted by the pharmacy for their second doses.
The Wheeling-Ohio County Health Department reported 14 new positive COVID-19 cases in its Wednesday night update. That brought the county's totals to 3,904 cases and 75 related deaths since the pandemic began.
The Marshall County Health Department reported seven new positive COVID-19 cases in its Wednesday night update. That brought that county's totals to 2,429 positive cases, 669 probable cases and 63 related deaths.
Hancock, Brooke and Ohio counties all were green, the safest category, on the Department of Health and Human Resources Wednesday COVID-19 alert map. Marshall County was yellow.