Fairmount pharmacy hosts neighborhood COVID-19 vaccine clinic

Husband and wife Jerry and Joann Volgraf at Enon Baptist Church. The Volgrafs have owned Fairmount Pharmacy for 33 years, where Joann works as a pharmacist. When they learned they’d be receiving a tray of the Pfizer vaccines, they quickly partnered with their neighbors, Enon Baptist Church across the street, to set up a vaccination clinic.
Husband and wife Jerry and Joann Volgraf at Enon Baptist Church. Jerry and his business partner have owned the neighborhood pharmacy for 33 years, where Joann works as a pharmacist. When they learned they’d be receiving a tray of the Pfizer vaccines, they quickly partnered with their neighbors, Enon Baptist Church across the street, to set up a vaccination clinic. Photo credit Hadas Kuznits/KYW Newsradio

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As more local pharmacies receive the COVID-19 vaccine, one area pharmacy said they're hopeful this indicates how fast supply is becoming more available.

Pharmacist Joann Volgraf said their first Fairmount Pharmacy COVID-19 vaccination clinic this weekend, across the street at Enon Baptist Church, was extremely emotional.

"They have chills, they cry -- I'm crying now," she expressed. "People have called the store and said, 'I can't believe I got an appointment!'"

Her husband, and pharmacy co-owner, Jerry Volgraf started the process of trying to acquire the vaccine back in November in accordance with the Pennsylvania Department of Health's guidelines.

"So it was a whole process of making sure you have the right equipment, making sure you have the right data logs, that you can manage the temperatures both in your freezer and in your refrigerator," he explained.

He said they found out on Friday that they'd be getting about 1,100 doses of the Pfizer vaccine right away. "So we went from trying to get the vaccine," he said, "to, 'OK, we got the vaccine. How do we plan an event?'"

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Immediately, they reached out to Rev. Dr. S.D. Neely of Enon Baptist Church.

"Our church administrator was very instrumental in setting everything up and getting everything done for us so that we can get the ball rolling in the community," said Neely.

And staff members like pharmacy intern Isabelle Lawler also stepped in to help organize the clinic.

"We have the license to help out with all of this," she said. "We actually are trained to vaccinate, which I'll be doing later this week."

Joann Volgraf said after this year that everyone's endured, she feels as though she can finally almost see the end of it. "People are so relieved," she exclaimed. "I personally know so many people who've died.  We have so many customers who have died."

As Jerry Volgraf added, all the paperwork and the organizing was worth it to be able to help their neighbors and customers, whom they consider family and friends.

"They've afforded me a good life," he said, "and this is my way of giving it back."

Featured Image Photo Credit: Hadas Kuznits/KYW Newsradio