Category: Highlights

Walgreens Not Following U.S. Guidance on Pfizer Vaccine Spacing

NY Times, April 5, 2021. Following complaints from customers and the C.D.C., the pharmacy chain will start scheduling Pfizer vaccine doses three weeks apart. Dima Qato, a pharmacist and associate professor at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy, said she was concerned about how the public perceives inconsistent messages about spacing doses of…Continue Reading Walgreens Not Following U.S. Guidance on Pfizer Vaccine Spacing

‘Pharmacy deserts’ are new front in the race to vaccinate for COVID-19

ABC News, March 6, 2021. In some states, those who need the COVID-19 shot the most have no way to get it….Millions live in ‘pharmacy deserts’ with limited access to COVID-19 vaccine in US. In Chicago, at least a third of the population — or nearly 1 million people — lives in a pharmacy desert,…Continue Reading ‘Pharmacy deserts’ are new front in the race to vaccinate for COVID-19

‘Just not equal at all’: Vaccine rollout in Chicago a microcosm of racial disparities nationwide

USA Today, February 12, 2021. People of color have suffered most from COVID-19. Now that vaccines are here, they are far less likely to have received a first dose for many of the same reasons. “If pharmacies are not available in specific neighborhoods, specifically majority-minority, majority-Black or -Hispanic neighborhoods in Chicago and elsewhere, you’re going…Continue Reading ‘Just not equal at all’: Vaccine rollout in Chicago a microcosm of racial disparities nationwide

How Chicago’s vaccine rollout is inhibited by longstanding inequality

The Guardian, February 5, 2021. Non-white Chicagoans, who makeup a majority of Covid-19 cases, have struggled to get the vaccine due to technology barriers and ‘pharmacy deserts’. Dima Qato, associate professor at the University of Southern California School of Pharmacy and senior fellow at the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics, has extensively studied…Continue Reading How Chicago’s vaccine rollout is inhibited by longstanding inequality

Pharmacy deserts in Chicago could make it tough for many to get COVID-19 vaccine

ABC Chicago, February 4, 2021. CHICAGO (WLS) — Many Chicagoans are already struggling to fill prescriptions because there are no drugstores in their neighborhoods, and that could also make it tougher to get the COVID-19 vaccine. “My work found that predominantly black and Hispanic neighborhoods in Chicago have fewer pharmacies and are more likely to…Continue Reading Pharmacy deserts in Chicago could make it tough for many to get COVID-19 vaccine

The growth of “pharmacy deserts”

Axios, January 7, 2021.  Neighborhoods in cities like Chicago are rapidly becoming places where people can’t fill medical prescriptions locally because their drugstores have shuttered or don’t accept Medicaid. Why it matters: The pandemic has accelerated the growth of “pharmacy deserts” as unprofitable and less-profitable stores have closed. It’s a worrisome trend for the urban…Continue Reading The growth of “pharmacy deserts”

Filling of prescriptions is harder with insurer’s action

AP News, January 2, 2021. CHICAGO (AP) — A December decision by insurer Aetna to drop Walgreens from its Illinois Medicaid plan is making it harder for thousands of low-income Chicago residents to get their prescriptions filled. The Chicago Tribune reports Aetna’s decision to exclude the Walgreens chain from its Aetna Better Health of Illinois…Continue Reading Filling of prescriptions is harder with insurer’s action

Aetna drops Walgreens from its Medicaid plan, making it harder for low-income Chicagoans to get their prescriptions during the pandemic

Chicago Tribune, December 30, 2020. A patient had a severe mental illness, but with monthly injections of medication, he stopped hearing voices and was able to live in subsidized housing, according to Dr. Thomas Huggett, of the Lawndale Christian Health Center. Then came the Aetna insurance company’s decision to drop Walgreens from the patient’s Medicaid…Continue Reading Aetna drops Walgreens from its Medicaid plan, making it harder for low-income Chicagoans to get their prescriptions during the pandemic

In Communities Deserted By Pharmacies, Advocates Fear Inequitable COVID-19 Vaccine Access

CNN, December 24, 2020. Chicago (CNN)Rochelle Sykes worries that her west side Chicago neighborhood will be left out when the Covid-19 vaccine becomes widely available next year. “It’s a national phenomenon,” said Dima Qato, the lead author of the study of Chicago drug stores and an associate professor at the University of Southern California School…Continue Reading In Communities Deserted By Pharmacies, Advocates Fear Inequitable COVID-19 Vaccine Access

‘Pharmacy desert’ concerns arise on south, west sides of Chicago

Fox 32 Chicago, December 23, 2020. CHICAGO – Health experts are calling on Illinois to make some changes after the state’s contracted Medicare prescription provider dropped Walgreens. The state says the south and west sides of Chicago have pharmacies in reach, but health experts on the front lines say the issue is access and it…Continue Reading ‘Pharmacy desert’ concerns arise on south, west sides of Chicago