WE DID NOT FORGET ABOUT YOU
Trust me, we didn’t forget about you. Our enormous waiting list continues to grow and it pains us that we can’t tackle it as fast as we’d like. We continue to field hundreds of daily questions-most of which are all the same: why haven’t more appointments for vaccines been made available for the Young’s Clinics, what’s the update on vaccine shipment, when is it my turn, where am I on the waiting list? The truth is: we have been shut out for the past 3 weeks. No First Dose vaccine has been allocated to us despite us following the ordering instructions and previous vaccine administration instructions to the letter. We are sitting here patiently awaiting our shipment from New York State. We have searched other ways to bring in vaccines through New York State, from redistribution with other facilities that have excess, and a Federal Pharmacy Partnership route, but those routes fell short. With every denial we can’t help but become confused and discouraged, but we are not losing hope for receiving another shipment sometime soon. Trust us when we are saying we are advocating for you and we are trying our darndest in getting COVID-19 vaccines to serve our community.
At this time, we are asking for patience. We know it’s a tall order when other providers are popping up (but sometimes also cancelling) with vaccines. It does not hurt our feelings if you were to find other places that may offer the vaccine to you. We encourage everyone to explore other avenues to get vaccines. Every Wednesday there is a new allotment or shipment being sent across the Capital District. We ask that you visit CapitalRegionVax.org for a listing of places and move forward from there. The more lists you are on THE BETTER!
BE READY. Be ready for what-you may ask? When we are eventually made aware that doses are arriving the time frame that we will have is ONLY a few days to get a clinic set up for a Thursday, Friday, Saturday or even Sunday. In the weeks leading up to now we would typically find out on a Saturday evening if we would be receiving a shipment. As we have already mentioned above, the past 3 weeks we have been passed over by New York State. But when we did receive doses we would receive shipping confirmation on Monday and then its off to the races to scramble to get a clinic set up in two to three days. We pull from the bottom of the list because those are the earliest entries. We then send out however many emails or invites to match the doses we receive. If we get 100 doses in, then we send out 100 emails/invites. When we are notified that someone has already been vaccinated the email then goes to the next person on the waiting list.
Patients who receive the email have 24 hours to respond and fill out the forms attached. So, this is the part we you need to be ready. If you get the email, please be sure to fill it out in a timely matter. You have a chance to secure the spot, but you need to fill out the form and set an appointment. If you are not tech-savvy, please have someone ready to help on your behalf. This is very important: the email that you receive is for YOU ONLY. This CANNOT be shared as it causes issues with the appointment slot that we have chosen for you and you may lose your slot if you share that email!!!!
PLEASE HAVE THE PROPER DOCUMENTS READY TO GO TO ENTER FOR THE FORMS: DRIVER’S LICENSE AND MEDICARE ID CARD. We need the Medicare ID card with the alphanumeric characters. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT! We are not looking for a Medicare advantage card or your old Medicare Card with Social Security Number. WE NEED THE MEDICARE ID CARD THAT HAS THE CARDBOARD FEEL COLORED RED, WHITE AND BLUE. Right now we have over 15% unpaid claims because patients are not giving the right information. If you don’t have it, we ask be ready and prepare RIGHT NOW and get that information. Unfortunately Medicare Advantage plans will not work right now, i.e. CDPHP, Humana, MVP, etc. WE NEED THE ACTUAL MEDICARE CARD. You can call 1-800-MEDICARE to get your Medicare Benefits Identifier (MBI Number). It takes about 5-10 minutes to call and answer a few questions to get the MBI Number.
Just know that Young’s Pharmacy & General Store is working hard on securing spaces to work out our own mini mass vaccination clinic or POINT OF DISPENSING (POD) Sites so that we can do hundreds of vaccinations per day. We are working in conjunction with the West Sand Lake Fire House and the Averill Park Fire House as POD sites. Additional community sites have come forward that we are working in conjunction with to bring more vaccines to the community. We are happy to have an outpouring support from our community for volunteers. We will be tapping into our volunteer list once we get a grip on a steady flow of vaccines. As mentioned before it’s community helping community. This is only the beginning of the vaccination process. We are all anxious to get to the finish line sooner, but we have always mentioned that this is a marathon and not a race to the finish line. Patience is key!!!!
Sincerely Yours,
Miller Young, Pharm.D. RPh.