COVID-19 vaccines to start arriving in pharmacies as soon as next week

Feb. 3, 2021

More vaccines are coming to South Dakota, and retail pharmacies could start vaccinating people as soon as next week.

The state’s allocation of COVID-19 vaccine has increased to 13,550 doses for the coming week, up from 12,800.

“This is obviously good news for South Dakota and for getting shots in arms,” Health Secretary Kim Malsam-Rysdon said.

The federal government also will be activating its retail pharmacy program for COVID-19 vaccinations. It could be as early as Feb. 11 that the state will see some pharmacies have access to the vaccine, she said.

The specific locations aren’t known yet.

“We do know this initial rollout will include pharmacies located in Walmarts, Hy-Vees, Lewis Drug locations and a number of pharmacies who get their drugs supplied by Cardinal House,” Malsam-Rysdon said.

In addition, people 75 and older will be eligible next week to be vaccinated as part of what she called “a relatively fluid process” for availability to different groups.

To see when you will be eligible for a vaccine, click here.

More than 2,300 residents already have volunteered to help with vaccine distribution in their communities.

The rate of cases also continues to trend down, dropping 33 percent to 1,000 cases in the past week, down from 1,500 in the previous week.

“It is important as we’re seeing these decreasing cases that prevention measures are still taken,” state epidemiologist Dr. Josh Clayton said.

It’s likely only a matter of time before COVID-19 variants begin to be detected in the state, he added. The variant that originated in the U.K. has been detected in 33 states, including neighboring ones, and is expected to be the dominant strain in the U.S. by March.

Find COVID-19 case numbers, other updates for February here

 

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COVID-19 vaccines to start arriving in pharmacies as soon as next week

More vaccines are coming to South Dakota, and retail pharmacies could start vaccinating people as soon as next week.

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