Small pharmacy serving south Modesto welcomes new single-dose COVID vaccine
Johnson & Johnson began shipping its COVID-19 vaccines on Monday, joining Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in getting out to communities. Its arrival is good news to Stanislaus County vaccine providers.
The J & J vaccine is a single-dose regimen and has simple storage requirements, needing only routine refrigerator temperatures, in contrast to freezer temps needed for the other two products. It has efficacy of at least 66% against moderate to severe COVID-19 and more than 85% protection against hospitalizations and death.
Having a third vaccine increases supply, and the J & J’s easier dosing, storage and handling is especially appealing for reaching challenging locations, such as small pharmacies and mobile clinics.
“On Saturday, I heard it was approved for emergency use,” said Miguel Oseguera, “It’ll be beautiful; one shot and you’re done.”
Oseguera is a pharmacy technician and the owner of Familia Farmacia in South Modesto, and one of the few small pharmacies in the area providing COVID-19 vaccines.
Familia Farmacia is about 2,000 square feet located at the end of mini-mall on Crows Landing Road, next to a taqueria. Inside is filled with the usual medicines and sundries, but the ambiance is almost festive, with colorful murals on the walls and lively music in Spanish playing.
Oseguera grew up in the area. He opened the pharmacy in 2019 and had previously worked at another, now-closed neighborhood pharmacy, so the customers have known him for decades.
“We speak the language, and we’ve been in the community for a while,” Oseguera said. “They know us. They know the pharmacist and that’s the trust relationship we’ve built over the years.”
Oseguera said he and his pharmacist, Isaac Montelongo, began preparing to give COVID-19 vaccines last summer. He praised the help he received from elected officials and county public health to secure the equipment needed and to complete the laborious paperwork to become a vaccine provider.
However, the ultra-cold freezers initially needed for the Pfizer vaccine were far too expensive for his small business, so he made preparations to give the Moderna product.
“I saw the need for our Hispanic community,” Oseguera said. “We’re the only place in South Modesto that could help. But we’ll help anyone who qualifies in the tiers.”
He anticipates that the arrival of the J & J vaccine will make getting vaccinated easier for his clients because they only need one dose.
“Our only anxiety is obtaining enough vaccines so we can vaccinate the masses,” he said.
Vaccinations made by appointment at Familia Farmacia
All vaccinations are scheduled by appointments, which can be made only by phone.
Oseguera said, “We went old school, because a lot of people don’t know how to use online tools.”
Pat Mayberry lives in North Modesto but learned about Familia Farmacia’s appointment system in the newspaper. She said she is familiar with the neighborhood because she was an assistant to the principal of Hanshaw Middle School before retiring a few years ago.
“I have diabetic neuropathy, so I couldn’t stand in the long lines at the county clinics,” said Mayberry at her Feb. 10 vaccine appointment.
She said she and her son read about the vaccine and possible side effects, and she had no concerns.
“Would’ve been nice if the vaccine that was only one shot was out,” said Mayberry. Her appointment was before the authorization of the J & J single-dose vaccine.
Oseguera’s affection for his patrons and community was obvious. During The Bee’s visit, an elderly couple called to say they couldn’t make their appointment, so Oseguera drove about five minutes into the adjacent neighborhood to pick them up.
“El es como una familia,” said Petra Oviedo, 88, describing Oseguera “as like family” via Spanish interpretation by Cecilia Lopez.
Oviedo and her husband, Ascension Oviedo, 85, are long-time patrons of Familia Farmacia and said they trust them. Both Oviedos take medicine for hypertension and have had trouble with hardening of their arteries.
Ascension Oviedo required amputation of his lower left leg about 20 years ago because of poor circulation and Petra Oviedo required surgery on her blocked neck blood vessel in February. The couple lives independently, including tending to a large garden in their yard.
Petra Oviedo said she came for her first dose of the vaccine because she doesn’t want to get COVID-19 and the pharmacy told her she should get it.
Ascension Oviedo needed his second dose and said he didn’t have any problems with the first one. He said chuckling except, “Me dio mucha hambre,” meaning, it made him really hungry.
The Oviedos said they did not have concerns about the vaccine side effects, because Oseguera explained the possible reactions to them.
ID is required at the south Modesto pharmacy
Familia Farmacia requires identification and proof of tier eligibility, such as work ID card, for people to receive a vaccine. As mandated for all COVID-19 vaccine providers, the pharmacy staff has to enter into the state tracking system, VaccineFinder, all doses administered at the end of each day, even if they didn’t give any doses that day.
Eligible individuals include health care workers, people 65 and older, those in the education sector, food service and agricultural workers, and Oseguera said he has clients from all of those fields, including migrant farm workers.
He said he hasn’t seen a lot of vaccine hesitancy from his Latino clients, but they do tell him about hurdles to getting vaccinated.
“Some say (they’re) not comfortable going to the county because they don’t have someone who speaks their language, Spanish, and filling out the paperwork (if they) don’t read and write,” Oseguera said, “(There’s) the lack of information in their language and they don’t know where to go.”
Stanislaus County making concerted effort
Kamlesh Kaur, public health spokesperson, said that the county has made a concerted effort to reach out the Latinx community, including providing all vaccine information and flyers in Spanish, participating in Q&A sessions on social media and Spanish-language TV, adding more Spanish-speaking staff at county clinics and working with community-based organizations operating and trusted in the Latino community, among others.
In addition, the public health coronavirus website at http://schsa.org/coronavirus/ has a tab that permits translation of all information into Spanish, as well as eight other languages.
To date, Familia Farmacia staff, in collaboration with staff from St. Luke’s Family Practice, has administered nearly 250 first and second dose vaccines. No doses have gone unused.
“We really appreciate our partnerships with small pharmacies like Familia Farmacia, as they’re the sources of information for their communities,” said Kaur, “Having trusted sources provides confidence to their communities that the vaccines are effective and safe.”
Familia Farmacia’s appointment phone number is 209-566-9956.
This story was produced with financial support from The Stanislaus County Office of Education and the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
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This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Small pharmacy serving south Modesto welcomes new single-dose COVID vaccine."
