MILFORD, Mass — Pfizer and Moderna shipped millions of doses of the new, variant-specific Covid boosters more than two weeks ago -- and the companies continue that pace of distribution. But Milford Central Pharmacy only got its first delivery on Thursday -- and it was 1/3 of what was ordered.
“We only got 90 doses,” said Ali Ardakani, PharmD, pharmacist and owner. “Which I don’t think is going to last until the end of the day today.”
Ardakani originally ordered 300 doses, sensing high interest from his clientele.
“When we tried to order more we found, unfortunately, there is nothing left,” he said.
Ardakani got so many inquiries about the new booster that he put customers on a waitlist. Thursday, he was finally able to start whittling it down. Kelsey Gaffney suffers from asthma -- she was one of the first to get immunized with Ardakani’s fresh shipment of vaccine.
“We got a notice on our phone so we just came right away so we can get them now before the spike goes up,” she said.
That’s what concerns Ardakani about the delay in vaccine deliveries: more Covid cases and thus more opportunities for the virus to mutate. He’s hopeful demand will settle into some kind of pattern that will make ordering of vaccines less of a risky proposition for pharmacies and clinics.
This is the first time the government isn’t paying for Covid shots and some reports suggest pharmacies may be keeping low inventories of the new boosters in case of low demand and/or lack of insurance coverage. However, most insurance plans DO cover the boosters, at least in part. And, for now, demand is high -- so much so that Moderna added another six million doses to its inventory last week.
Still, small pharmacies and big recommend patients call in advance regarding vaccine availability -- whether they have an appointment or not.
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