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McCandless Pharmacy Promised COVID-19 Vaccines Gets Only 200 Doses

MCCANDLESS, Pa. (KDKA) - The Biden administration announced it will begin directing shipments of vaccines to retail pharmacies next week.

On Tuesday the White House released a list of 21 national pharmacy chains signed up for the first phase. But what about the ma and pop pharmacies?

The owner of Adzema Pharmacy in McCandless wants to know why the state promised doses that never arrived. They've been ready to give vaccines since November, but they've only received two boxes. That's a total of 200 doses for a large community they've served for 61 years.

"The last time I talked to the state was a week ago and they said they were to ship some for this week, and I've received nothing and no further communication," said owner Jay Adzema.

Two weeks ago, two boxes arrived at his McCandless pharmacy's doorstep. He set aside a vaccination room, but nothing more came.

Adzema says he has no idea when he'll get another shipment.

So he'll just wait.

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He says if he does, he'll post on social media and call his customer, some of whose loyalty dates back four generations.

"We know our people, they know us. This last year has been very rough and the people who have supported me I want to support them back," he said.

Because the state promised doses that never arrived, he's not keeping a list or giving out appointments. He doesn't want to have to cancel.

He hopes more doses will come soon, saying the majority of his customers meet the criteria and are counting on him.

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