Organized shelves, soft lighting, plant life, and a homey atmosphere are some of the few elements that make Grace Community Pharmacy distinctive, as is this: While Publix, Winn-Dixie, CVS, Walgreens and Walmart have been vaccinating for months, Grace was chosen by the Flagler County Health Department to be the first community pharmacy vaccination site. It launched its Covid-19 vaccination campaign in March.
Having an “all hands on deck” operation, as Bob Snyder, director of the Flagler County Health Department, describes it, he jumped at the opportunity when owner and pharmacist Grace Benet contacted the department. She already had a waiting list of people wanting to receive the vaccine.
“She is very adept at handling and storage of the vaccine, and as a pharmacist she’s one of the licensed providers who can administer vaccines,” Snyder said of Benet. “So it’s been an absolute pleasure to partner with Grace, because you know the big thing here, this is all hands on deck for getting everyone possible vaccinated in Flagler County. We want to be the number one county for percent of residents vaccinated. So that’s why we involve many individuals.” The county is currently ranked seventh or eighth out of 67 in Florida, by rate of vaccinated populations. “All our pharmacies and our smaller ones like Grace Community, they’re playing a significant role.” (The Health Department subsequently added One Pharmacy at 85 Cypress Point Parkway in Palm Coast to its community providers of vaccines.)
Between the health department handling roughly 70 percent of all vaccines and surrounding pharmacies taking care of the remaining 30 percent, the county is approaching 50,000 residents with at least one shot, as of today. That’s close to half the adult population. A community pharmacy can play an outsized role in getting to those more reluctant to be vaccinated for one reason or another. The “community” aspect enters into the equation when customers are more comfortable speaking with their pharmacist about their concerns.
“We are not more concerned with the volume, it’s more about the convenience and experience,” says Benet, though Grace went all-out with its own marketing campaign: you could find its come-get-your-vaccine flyers at local doctors’ offices across the street, at AdventHealth, for instance.
Benet was born in the Philippines, graduated from the University of Santo Tomas in Manila in 1994, and moved to Flagler County in 2006. Here she raised her children and worked as a pharmacist at a large chain pharmacy for fourteen years. Once she had the resources to create her own pharmacy, she opened Grace Community Pharmacy at 80 Pinnacles Drive across from Advent Hospital in September of 2020.
Benet welcomes patients with hospitality and helpfulness along with her son Gilroy Benet, the pharmacy’s business manager. Gilroy graduated from Flagler Palm Coast High School in 2012. After studying at Boston College and Ateneo De Manila University he became one of those native sons the county prizes so much, returning to his hometown to help his mother run the business. The family-run business is “focused on the needs of the community,” says Gilroy Benet.
While the pharmacy handles the prescriptions and drug treatments of about 2,000 patients, it has been able to give 1,000 Covid tests and administer over 1,000 Covid vaccinations as of last week. Regarding the vaccine, the pharmacy carries the two-shot Moderna and one-shot Johnson & Johnson, though as of last week the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug Administration recommended a pause on the use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine over concerns about blood clots in a handful of patients. (See: “Johnson & Johnson Vaccine Suspension: A Doctor Explains What This Means for You.”)
Since then, Grace Community Pharmacy has sent a mass-text to all former and future recipients of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine informing their patients they are no longer administering the shot until further notice. As of now, the pharmacist states that there have been no adverse reactions that have been reported to her–none have been reported in Flagler County to any of the vaccines–and the pharmacy will continue to give patients the Moderna shots.
“Unlike big chain pharmacies, who only see Flagler County as another market, we are more in tune with what the needs of the community is.” says Grace Benet. The Benets create a more personal experience. Each vaccine is given by Grace Benet herself, making the experience as comfortable as possible: The fact that Grace gives every vaccine herself adds a personal touch that people wouldn’t necessarily get at other pharmacies. She is their one-stop shop for questions over the phone or in person, questions of medications, prescriptions, concerns–and now for their vaccines.
Going through the vaccination process at a big chain pharmacy himself, Gilroy Benet was able to pinpoint the issues many people faced when getting vaccinated. “The main issue that they have is really accessibility,” he says. “It’s the number one priority that we’ve, you know, designed the entire vaccination system for.” Some 59 percent of the patients who have received the vaccine (as of April 19) are the elderly. One of the main avenues used to access vaccination appointments is through a pharmacy’s website which, at the time, was quickly booked minutes after opening. Grace Community Pharmacy recognized the elderly demographics’ frustration when trying to access spots online, so catering to them, the Grace Community Pharmacy team made sure that it wasn’t the only option. (To book online visit here. For other options, see the Flagler County page here.)
Ardent Family Care, one of Flagler County’s largest primary care practices, is across the parking lot from Grace Community Pharmacy and refers a substantial number of their patients to them. “A lot of these older patients are not able to access online,” says Dr. Renato Alfonso of Ardent. “And one way that they could get their vaccinations is, I refer them straight to Grace, where they could just walk in, talk to Grace, and then Grace could just physically put them on the list, and that helps a lot.”
Taking the word community to heart, Benet stresses the importance of having community partners in terms of the vaccination campaign. Dr. Alfonso and Robert Perri, a nurse practitioner at Ardent, have detected some residents’ reluctance when considering the vaccine. “They’re definitely patients who are hesitant in getting the vaccination,” Perri says. “I think a lot of it has to do with fear. I think it’s just a lack of knowledge about how the vaccine works.”
Both medical professionals use Grace Community Pharmacy as a reference to get vaccines and more vaccine information. “I want to make sure they’re educated, factually, not through internet news,” Pwerri says of patients, “but facts through journal articles, medical research, the science behind the vaccine and not relying on friends and Facebook for their information regarding credibility.”
“With it being a privately run pharmacy, she takes great pride in delivering care to our patients,” Perri says of Grace.
Note changes to the health department’s vaccination schedule :
Those changes begin Sunday, April 25, with drive-through vaccinations offered between 10 a.m. and noon across from 120 Airport Road in Palm Coast. No appointment is necessary for this weekly operation. In addition, residents can receive their first doses Wednesday and Thursday evenings, between 4 and 7 p.m. at the same location. Again, no appointments are necessary. Note that outdoor vaccination clinics will close if there is stormy weather.
Other planned vaccination activities this week include:
· Wednesday, April 21 and Thursday, April 22 from 8:30 AM to 11:30AM. Thursday will be the last time first doses will be given at the fairgrounds until further notice. The health department will accept “drive ups” without appointments both days.
· Friday April 23 – St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 4600 Belle Terre Pkwy from 8:30AM to 11:30AM. First dose appointments can be made by calling the church office at 386-446-2246.
· Saturday, April 24 — St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church, 4600 Belle Terre Pkwy from 8:30 to 1:30PM. First doses by appointment at myvaccine.fl.gov.
· Sunday, April 25 from 10AM to 12PM across from 120 Airport Road. This is a drive-through site and no appointments are necessary.
The health department’s current vaccination outreach efforts are branching out to include local businesses. The department has already contacted Coastal Cloud to vaccinate their employees, spouses and children 18 and older, and is also working with the Flagler Beach Business Bureau to bring vaccinations to local restaurants and their employees. These vaccination events will take place in the next two weeks. If your business is interested in having the department come to vaccinate employees onsite, please call 386-437-7350 ext. 0 weekdays between 8A a.m. and 4:30 p.m. This is the same number residents can call with questions about second doses appointments.
With respect to testing, DOH-Flagler has reduced the amount of Covid-19 testing it offers each week to accommodate its robust vaccination activities. This week testing will be on Thursday, April 22 and Friday, April 23 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. across from 120 Airport Road. No appointments are necessary, and test results are available in 2 to 3 days. Other locations in Flagler County providing Covid-19 testing include two Mediquick locations, Grace Community Pharmacy, CentraCare, Palm Harbor Family Practice and CVS Pharmacies. Please confirm with each site in advance as some require appointments.
For more information about Covid vaccination and testing efforts, please visit https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/.
