The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Rep. Joyce meets with Drug Mart officials
Store administering vaccines at 3 Lake County locations
Discount Drug Mart is one of the companies administering novel coronavirus vaccines, including at three locations in Lake County.
U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge Township, visited Discount Drug Mart’s Concord Township location Feb. 11 to discuss vaccination distribution with company officials.
Throughout the state, the company has administered around 40,000 vaccines so far, said Joe Muha, the company’s corporate counsel and director of Pharmacy Compliance.
Muha said the biggest challenge so far has been getting the vaccines.
“If we had 40,000 more doses then we’d be able to take care of 40,000 more Ohioans,” Muha said. “And we know there’s a supply shortage and that’s being addressed by the manufacturers and hopefully (Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine) is on the way, too. They’ve applied for their emergency use authorization.”
Muha said they’ve received a “pretty even mix” of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. He said those getting vaccinated must get both shots from the same brand.
“The state’s been doing a really good job of, you get Pfizer first, then 21 days later they’re shipping the Pfizer to support that,” he said.
Lisa Birman, a pharmacist at the Concord Township Discount Drug Mart said sometimes at the end of a night they will have a shot or two left.
“I have a standby list of (phase) 1A people, so like dentists, hygienists, other medical personnel, law enforcement offices, who haven’t gotten it yet, so they’re on my list to call for those,” Birman said.
Birman said she’s almost always able to get seven doses from a vial.
“Some of these Pfizer vials have six, some seven out of a vile,” Muha said. “They’re supposed to get five. There’s a little bit of overfill like when you buy a thing of QTips. It’s supposed to have 100, it may have 103; 104 of them...and they do that on purpose. So if she can administer another shot, she’s on the phone ‘hey I’ve got one and I’ve only got a twohour window in which I can use it, can you make it in here?’ “
Birman said she hasn’t wasted a single dose.
“I’ll overhead page someone in the store to come back here and get it before I throw it away,” she said.
In addition to the 8023 Crile Road, Concord Township, location, Discount Drug Mart is also administering vaccines at its pharmacies at 34100 Vine St. in Eastlake and 8500 Mentor Ave. in Mentor.
Those interested in getting a vaccine through Discount Drug mart can go to clinic.discount-drugmart.com/covid/register. Those interested can also call the stores. Those numbers are:
• Concord – (440) 8532542
• Eastlake – (440) 9423330
• Mentor – (440) 2550040
“As we move through Ohio’s phased approach, we will contact you when your phase begins and we have vaccine available to schedule an appointment,” Discount Drug Mart states on its website.
Rep. Joyce and 57 other members of the Problem Solvers Caucus recently called for a vote on a proposed $160 billion standalone Defeating COVID-19 package, which for a $20 billion in funding for the National Vaccine Program in partnership with states, tribes and territories.
According to Joyce’s office, the package mirrors the vaccine proposal within the plan numerous Republican Senators recently presented to President Joe Biden.