HARLINGEN — Mary Degollado winced slightly as a nurse injected the COVID-19 vaccine into her arm.
“I’m nervous because I already had a bad case of COVID,” said Degollado, 57, who received the first dose of the Moderna vaccine Saturday at Care RX Pharmacy.
“My doctor said it’s best for me to get it,” she said. “I have a day care so I’ve been pretty scared.”
Owner Andrew Zamorategui and his wife Cindy, a registered nurse, administered about 50 doses Saturday at their pharmacy at 4501 Hale Ave. They began at about 8:30 a.m. and finished at 1 p.m.
“Everyone’s happy to be able to take the next step to normalcy again,” said Andrew Zamorategui. “We tell them to stay at home the rest of the day because they may feel some discomfort. We don’t want them to think they’ll be feeling good.”
Zamorategui began offering the COVID-19 vaccine several weeks ago under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s federal retail pharmacy program for COVID-19 vaccination.
It is a collaboration between the federal government, states and national pharmacy partners and independent pharmacy networks to increase access to COVID-19 vaccination across the United States.
“The program is being implemented incrementally based on the available vaccine supply, with select retail pharmacy locations providing COVID-19 vaccine to eligible individuals,” according to a CDC website.
“They called us last Friday before the freeze and said, ‘We have 100 doses that somebody turned in,’” he recalled. “They asked us, ‘Can you use them?’ And so we actually opened on Valentine’s Day because we knew the weather was going to be bad.”
He expressed gratitude that he and his wife administered all 100 doses before the winter storm knocked out their power to the pharmacy for three days. Any vaccines they might have had would have been lost.
He’s continued to receive more vaccines which he is offering to at-risk populations such as people 65 and older and those with underlying health conditions.
“We’re reaching out to the elderly and those with certain chronic conditions like cancer or heart issues, diabetes, obesity, and those with auto-immune diseases,” he said. “Those are qualifying conditions.”
Elvina Cavazos, 75, was grateful for finally getting her shot.
“I do a lot of home health work,” she said. “I think it’s a positive thing to get to be safe for me and my patients.”
Cindy Zamorategui walked up and placed a sticker on her shirt that read, “I Got the COVID-19 Vaccine.”
“I think it’s a proud moment to be a part of this cause and to help keep people safe,” Cindy Zamorategui said. “People have been very excited, emotional.”
Andrew Zamorategui said when his pharmacy first began offering the shots, there was an outpouring of gratitude and relief.
“We’re trying to prioritize the elderly simply because they are more at risk, and their death rates are higher,” he said. “But it’s been amazing because we’ve been calling these people, and some of these people were literally crying over the phone because they haven’t seen their grandkids in a year. So it’s a pretty unique situation that I don’t think I’ve ever experienced. So it’s pretty cool.”
The CDC, he said, has promised him second doses for every first one he administers.
