'Vaccine Tourism': Struggling To Get COVID-19 Vaccine In Pennsylvania, Butler County Woman Looks Elsewhere
BUTLER, Pa. (KDKA) - One Butler County grandmother remains committed to getting the COVID-19 vaccine shot for her and her husband. If she can't find an available dose in Pennsylvania, she's willing to drive eight hours south.
KDKA's Meghan Schiller talked to Fran Nagy about "vaccine tourism" or traveling to other states to secure the vaccine.
"I definitely think somebody dropped the ball somewhere. Big time," said Nagy.
During a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Governor Tom Wolf said there's nothing to stop Pennsylvanians from leaving the state to try to find the vaccine elsewhere. But depending on where you go, there's no guarantee the vaccine provider will give you the dose.
Nagy tells KDKA's Meghan Schiller she's willing to give it a try. She lives in Cranberry with her husband.
"The other day I was behind 14,000 people in a queue," she said.
They're eligible and trying to pinpoint the green dots on the state's website that denotes places that could have available doses of the vaccine.
"We're both 70 and over and we were thrilled to see that we finally got into the 1A category, but the Pennsylvania system's website literally stinks," she said.
She's looking beyond Butler County these days: "I'm trying Mercer County, I'm trying Armstrong."
Now she'll try vaccine tourism, relying on her grown children who live out of state.
"The one in North Carolina, who is closer, is looking into seeing if we could possibly get it quicker there than here in Pennsylvania and I would gladly drive eight hours to go get this shot."
She also tried to book a slot at a CVS in Youngstown, Ohio. CVS says you need to be a resident of the state that you're trying to get the vaccine in if you're signing up at a CVS pharmacy.
When Nagy made it to the last step, a residency requirement question popped up.
KDKA's Meghan Schiller asked her: "How would your life improve or change if you and your husband managed to get these shots?"
"We would go see our family. I mean these are our only two grandchildren," said Nagy.
She doesn't want to lie, so she's not going to select that she's a resident of Ohio on the CVS website, but she hopes an independent pharmacy in North Carolina will pull through.
KDKA also reached out to Rite Aid and Walgreens. Rite Aid said it is not currently scheduling walk-in appointments in any state. Walgreens says nothing about residency requirements in Pennsylvania or West Virginia but does require residency for doses given in Ohio.