Adamsville pharmacy first in area to start giving COVID-19 vaccinations

Pharmacist Todd Gean, at right, gives a Moderna COVID-19 vaccination to Sarah Norris as pharmacists Ali and Bolton Gean stand by.

Todd’s Pharmacy in Adamsville is reportedly the first pharmacy in the McNairy-Hardin County area to begin giving COVID-19 vaccinations at its store.
Pharmacies, however, are still required to give the free vaccinations only to those eligible under the Tennessee Department of Health plan.
Owner Todd Gean said he and fellow pharmacists Bolton and Ali Gean administered 110 shots Wednesday in three hours after word began circulating the Main Street business had received a supply of the two-dose Moderna vaccine.
“If you get the first shot, you’re guaranteed to get the second shot” which is typically done in 28 days, he noted.
Gean said he began working around Christmas in order to be on the leading edge of pharmacies authorized to provide COVID-19 vaccinations, buying a special freezer and temperature monitoring unit.
In Memphis on Tuesday, some people wanting to get shots from the Shelby County Health Department waited in a line of cars for four hours or more to be vaccinated.
Gean said everyone at his pharmacy who got a shot was through within 30 minutes of arrival, including a 15-minute wait afterward to be sure an adverse reaction isn’t occurring. Another delivery of vaccine is due Wednesday.
He expects more pharmacies in this area to soon be offering COVID-19 prevention shots, increasing the vaccination rate and slowing the spread of the virus the Centers for Disease Control says has now caused more than 423,000 deaths nationwide.
Both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines being administered in the U.S. are claimed to be around 95 percent effective.
Gean predicts local pharmacies will become popular places to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
People are “comfortable” going to their pharmacy for their medication needs, he said.
He’s urging residents to be vaccinated as soon as possible if they “want to get their life back” and be able to travel and visit as they did before the pandemic.
“I wouldn’t give you a vaccine if I thought it was going to hurt you,” Gean said.