PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — In a Friday Dose of Clarity, 10 On Your Side is clearing up confusion about who can get a COVID-19 vaccine at Walgreens.
A WAVY viewer messaged, frustrated because she had been trying to get an appointment at Walgreens for a 61-year-old family member with an underlying health condition.
The confusion started when Walgreens began offering appointments last month.
Pharmacy chains in Virginia, including Walgreens, are supposed to be serving only people over the age of 65, in an agreement with the Virginia Department of Health.
But because of a glitch in Walgreens’ system just as it started to offer vaccine appointments, people of any age who qualified under 1b were able to schedule an appointment.
The glitch was fixed in a few hours, according to a Walgreens spokesperson.
VDH vaccine coordinator Dr. Danny Avula said it actually took a few days for pharmacies to logistically start working with the state’s pre-registration list.
“In the meantime, we did not want [pharmacies] to be sitting on vaccine or hold off on vaccinating communities while they have this vaccine,” he said. “It’s better that it goes to somebody than nobody. And so we said, ‘Go ahead and schedule out your next few days.’”
Representatives for both Walgreens and VDH say they opted to honor appointments for anyone in 1b who got them during that time frame, as well as fulfill second doses for those individuals.
Now that the glitch is fixed, however, Walgreens is no longer offering appointments to anyone under the age of 65.
If you meet the current eligibility, here is the link to schedule a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at Walgreens.
10 On Your Side is working to give you a “Dose of Clarity” pertaining to the COVID-19 vaccine. We’re taking your questions and getting answers, which we’ll continue to share on WAVY News Today weekdays at 5:30 a.m. If you have a question, send it our way! Email reportit@wavy.com, tweet us, or send it to us on Facebook.
