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A local independent pharmacy chain has been playing a big role in the administration of coronavirus vaccines.
"We started looking into this last May when the state started up its program. We thought it was our duty to be at the forefront," said John Pastorek, director of pharmacy for Mainline Pharmacy.
"It is the Mainline culture to step in and take care of our communities. It is part of our mission to our patients and community in general," said Steve DeCriscio, Mainline chief financial officer. "This is what we are all about -- the communities we live in and our patients. It is about our patients, to help people live better lives."
Pastorek said since the pandemic started, a significant portion of their customers kept asking when they could get a vaccine.
"People were asking us long before it became available. We wanted to step in and provide the vaccine for our customers," he said.
At this point, Mainline has vaccinated about 55,000 people through area clinics, which have been held at the Jaffa Shrine Center in Altoona, Saint Francis University in Loretto, the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and several other sites.
The vaccinations are free to whoever comes to the clinics, and Mainline bills the insurance companies for those who have insurance for a small administration fee.
"We will continue to do the clinics until everyone who wants a vaccine gets it or the supply dries up. We will be doing these into the summer, at least into July or August, as long as the demand is there," said Jeff Moschgat, a pharmacist at Mainline's long-term care location in Portage.
The state Department of Health surveys providers like Mainline every week, asking how many doses they've administered that week and how many they want for the next week.
"We were using Moderna but now they have been giving us Pfizer. So far, we've done about 95% Moderna and about 5% Pfizer. Over the next few weeks, we expect about 75% Moderna and 25% Pfizer," Pastorek said.
Pastorek admits running the clinics has been a challenge.
"It is a lot of work to have 1,500 to 2,000 people come to one place, to keep them safe with social distancing. It has been a challenge," he said. "Parking has been an issue. There are not a lot of sites that can handle that volume of cars, but we've done a good job with it."
"We now have a few under our belt and are able to adapt to make things better as we do more clinics," DeCriscio said. "Every one gets a little better. There wasn't a lot of guidance out there. The team has been able to start the process and got it to where it is a well-oiled machine at this point."
The area clinics have been attracting people from a wide area.
"At one of our clinics at Saint Francis, we had people from all over the state of Pennsylvania and Maryland," DeCriscio said. "At one, about 20% were from the Pittsburgh area, 20% from the State College area and some from Harrisburg. We have had people from all over who have got on our website. We found that to be exciting. There were a significant number of people from outside of the area."
Mainline officials are glad they have been able to help.
"It is exciting. Part of it is our duty; we are here to take a lead in our patients' health," Pastorek said. "All of our pharmacists are very well trained. Sometimes they feel they don't get to use all of the skills they learned to become a pharmacist. It is now their time to shine."
Moschgat, the pharmacist, said, "It makes us feel good we are able to help them. It is fulfilling to see their smiling faces."
Now, people can register to get their vaccine and there is no longer a waiting list.
"If you are eligible, you can make an appointment right now. There were over 100,000 on our list at one point, but some people got their vaccines elsewhere," Pastorek said.
People can register by going to www.mainlinepharmacy.com/covid/vaccine/scheduling.
Mainline Pharmacy was founded in Cresson in 1980 by Jerry Moschgat, Jeff's father, and today has nine retail and one long-term care location throughout Cambria, Somerset, Indiana and Westmoreland counties.
Mainline plans to open an Altoona location in early 2022 at Pleasant Valley Boulevard and Kettle Street.
"We are excited about coming to Altoona," DeCriscio said.
Further expansion is possible in the future.
"We want to build on what we have," Pastorek said. "We have met some new people at the clinics and hope to spread the service we can offer to more people.
"We are expanding into Altoona to provide the best service available. I think people really appreciate the personal touch and friendly service we offer. We take a lot of pride in being able to offer that."
Mirror Staff Writer Walt Frank is at 814-946-7467.