DALLAS — About 100 Dallas-area pharmacies are distributing the H1N1 vaccine on Wednesday. Their supplies have been provided by the Dallas County Department of Health and Human services as part of an unprecedented sharing program.
People started lining up at Dougherty's Pharmacy at Royal Lane and Preston Road in North Dallas just before 9 a.m., and business was steady all morning. This is the only independent pharmacy to get the swine flu vaccine from the county. They received about 400 doses, and about half were already gone by noon — mostly to people with insurance who until now had not been able to get vaccinated.
"For those of us with insurance, that have been waiting until the last minute to get it from drug stores or doctors, it hasn't seemed fair," said Joanne McClain. "It hasn't seemed right."
Dougherty's will continue distributing the H1N1 vaccine until about 4 p.m. or as long as their supply lasts. Their only caveat is that they are not administring doses to children under 14, a decision the pharmacy made on its own. It does not reflect the vaccination policy of other pharmacies.
One hundred other pharmacies inside Dallas County — at Kroger, Tom Thumb, Walmart and Walgreen's — are also distributing their shares of the H1N1 vaccine on Wednesday.
E-mail jstjames@wfaa.com
