Johnson County pharmacies close, leaving customers without vaccines, drugs, answers
The Funari family of Olathe planned a big outing last week — to a Walgreens to get the two young sons vaccinated for COVID-19. The boys even got to miss some school for it.
“Honestly, this is the one thing we’ve been waiting for. For us, this is the end of the pandemic, when we get our boys vaccinated. Our lives come back to normal,” said dad Anthony Funari.
But as they walked into the store at 151st Street and Black Bob Road in Olathe they saw a sign that said the pharmacy was closed. It’s a scene playing out at other pharmacies here and around the country, with vaccine appointments out the window and patients struggling to get urgent prescriptions filled.
The Funaris made appointments online and had not been notified of any change.
Anthony Funari said the store manager told them the pharmacy was closed because it was short-staffed and suggested they call customer service, which they did but no one answered.
“I don’t want to see this happen to any other parents,” said Funari, an adjunct professor of English at Johnson County Community College.
Over the last few days customers have found some Walgreens Olathe locations inexplicably closed or out of COVID vaccine.
In Indianapolis, Walgreens customers have also found pharmacies closed, leaving them unable to get COVID-19 and flu shots, and prescriptions, the Indianapolis Star reported. Customers have faced long waits and pharmacy closures in Kentucky and Denver, too.
Walgreens and CVS Health have tried to address staffing issues with nationwide recruitment efforts.
In a statement to The Star, Fraser Engerman, Walgreens’ senior director of external relations, did not specifically address the situation in Olathe but said the company “continuously reviews staffing levels, as we have throughout the pandemic.
“In communities where staffing shortages have impacted our stores, we have adjusted continuity plans with the goal of creating minimal disruption to our customers and patients.”
A couple of weeks ago, Eric DeVault of Olathe went to the Walgreens at 151st and Ridgeview Road to get his COVID booster shot. He made his appointment online.
When he got there, “there were signs outside their store that said they were out of the COVID vaccine,” said DeVault, a stay-at-home dad with two children.
A pharmacy employee told him there might be vaccine available later and told him to go back online and make another appointment, DeVault said.
“It was annoying, but what’s the point of getting annoyed at this person behind the register. It’s not their fault,” said DeVault. “But who do you get mad at? I’m still annoyed even though I can’t get mad at this dude. I’m annoyed at someone, I just don’t know who.”
He still hasn’t gotten that booster.
Doctors weren’t notified
Olathe pediatrician Amy Voelker said her office started getting reports last week from parents who showed up at Walgreens pharmacies in Olathe to get their kids vaccinated and were told the store didn’t have the doses.
“And these were people who had appointments,” said Voelker. “Apparently Walgreens wasn’t calling them or couldn’t call them because the system wouldn’t let them have the information, or whatever.
“So they had no recourse other than to show up and be told sorry. They were just totally on their own. Most of them went somewhere else to get it. We had several come here.”
It’s unclear how long the pharmacies were temporarily closed.
Voelker said physicians were not notified that the pharmacies would be closed.
Her biggest concern is “we don’t know when we’re sending scrips electronically that the pharmacy’s closed, because it goes through and we don’t have a clue until the parents call us back sometimes after 5 o’clock in panic because they can’t get their kids’ amoxicillin filled because the pharmacy’s closed,. And then we have to send it somewhere else.”
Voelker said she’s been waiting a week to get a prescription for her daughter from a Walgreens that usually processes it within 24 hours. “Luckily I still have enough to get through the week, but this becomes a problem,” she said.
In cases where a local Walgreens might have “temporarily adjusted hours or disruption,” Engerman said, the store will direct customers to the nearest Walgreens.
When a store has temporarily adjusted its hours, he said, a notice is placed on Walgreens.com/FindaStore and on the Walgreens mobile app. He said customers can also talk to a Walgreens pharmacist using the 24/7 Pharmacist Video Chat on the app and website.
Help wanted
There’s no question that pharmacies have gotten busier during the pandemic, adding COVID-19 testing services to their menu of services and now administering vaccines to anyone 5 and older. That strain has grown with the annual flu vaccinations also underway. And on Wednesday, Kansas announced all adults may be eligible for COVID-19 booster shots, adding to the demand at pharmacies.
Walgreens launched several hiring initiatives, including a sign-on bonus of $1,250 for full-time or part-time pharmacy technicians, Engerman said.
In September, Walgreens gave a one-time, $1,250 bonus to full-time pharmacists and a $1,000 one-time bonus to part-time pharmacists. Pharmacy technicians, who are certified or become certified to administer both the flu and COVID-19 vaccines, will get a $1,000 reward during a six-month retention period, Engerman said.
CVS hired 20,000 retail employees — including about 470 in Missouri and 140 in Kansas — during its recent national hiring initiative, a company spokesman told The Star. Another 20,000 candidates either have job offers or have started the process of joining the company.
But still, those long lines
David Chartrand became an ex-Walgreens customer in October after standing in yet another long pharmacy line at the Walgreens near his home. The lines have been long for months, Chartrand said.
“I never met with a single pharmacy employee who wasn’t pleasant or understanding or apologetic,” said Chartrand, a freelance journalist. “They would always say I’m sorry.”
That didn’t stop him, though, from airing his grievances on Facebook — “the world’s best complaint box,” he calls it — after he didn’t get a satisfactory response from the company about the problem, or see a change. He has taken his business to another pharmacy.
After finding Walgreens closed last Thursday morning, the Funari boys got their COVID shots at a locally owned pharmacy in Lenexa later in the day.
Funari had made “backup” appointments for the next day at a CVS. But before he could call and cancel, Funari received an email.
CVS canceled the appointments.
This story was originally published November 17, 2021 at 12:07 PM.
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