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'It takes a village,' Paw Paw pharmacy plays crucial role in COVID-19 vaccinations

"We recognized early on, just like everything we do in the rural area, it takes a village. It truly does."

PAW PAW, Mich. — When Jeff Stull first posted about COVID-19 vaccine appointments at the pharmacy he manages, he was shocked by the response. 

"Within three minutes, 300 spots were full," said Stull, manager of Paw Paw Village Pharmacy. 

In the weeks since, the pharmacy has only grown in its efforts to help vaccinate people who live or work in Van Buren and Cass counties—with the ability to administer hundreds of shots a day. 

"It's actually awesome. It's something that we were all built to do here as pharmacists, as technicians," he said. 

When the rollout first started, Van Buren Cass District Health Department (VBCHD) had to work with its small team to administer the roughly 800 doses it was receiving weekly. 

"We recognized early on, just like everything we do in the rural area, it takes a village," said deputy health director Danielle Persky. 

Stull had contacted the health department almost immediately offering to help with vaccination clinics. Once it had more doses, the department started allocating some to Paw Paw Village Pharmacy. 

Now, the pharmacy receives about half of VBCHD's weekly vaccine shipment, which has increased to over 2,000 doses a week. 

Persky said the two county's vaccination progress so far would not have been possible without the Paw Paw pharmacy. 

"I really mean that. I just don't think we would have had the capacity to keep up with accepting more vaccine and the way that the allotment works is, the more vaccine you give, the more you get," Persky said. "So, it was necessary for us to be able to push this out." 

The department is also working with 10 other pharmacies and providers to get vaccines administered. 

It's allowed VBCHD to work on education and outreach, which are crucial as residents sometimes lack not only Internet access, but phone service, as well, Persky said. 

"It's always top of our mind, how are we going to communicate," she said.

Persky said the health department has utilized postcards for residents over age 65 to communicate registration information. 

At Paw Paw Village Pharmacy, staff have got it down to a system. A steady stream of people flows through the building until 6 p.m. on clinic days. The staff know a number of patients by name. A comfort that Stull said likely helps with vaccine hesitancy at times, which studies have shown is prevalent in rural communities. 

"That's something that we're trying to take very seriously. I mean, obviously we're not trying to push something onto somebody that they're not comfortable with, but it is nice to have that relationship where we can kind of educate them on the benefits of getting the vaccination," Stull said.

The pharmacy is also hosting off-site clinics with the health department. 

Stull says he's brought on nurses part-time, including his own mother, and other nurses have come out of retirement just to help with the clinics. 

The pharmacy also had to hire a communications staffer to handle the hundreds of vaccine related calls and emails. 

"Our staff is tremendous, and that's really the reason that we're able to do such a large amount," Stull said. 

Stull said the pharmacy hopes to stick with the clinics for as long as they can, as they continue to balance everyday pharmacy work, as well.  

"It is a lot of work on the back end, but we are encouraged and motivated by the fact that, you know, everybody comes in really happy and we feel like we're doing a service for our country," he said. 

A service that Persky said the counties could not be more grateful for. 

"I think the community really has to understand and take a moment to say thank you to Paw Paw Village Pharmacy because without them we wouldn't be where we're at today," Persky said.

Since VBCHD has only received Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines so far, it's vaccinating people 18 years old and older. Between the two counties, 92,000 residents fall in that population. 

But, Persky said the department plans to work with regional partners soon to administer the Pfizer, BioNTech vaccine, which can be given to 16 and 17-year-olds. 

The state's goal is to vaccinate 70% of the population ages 16 years old and older as soon as possible. 

As of Tuesday, 16.3% of that population has received the vaccine statewide. In Van Buren County, 14.4% of the population 18 years old and older have been vaccinated and Cass County has vaccinated 7.3% of the population. 

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