Retired physician Dr. Frank Brown vaccinates Concordia Haven resident Mike Suhan, 80, originally from Cabot, Wednesday afternoon. Local pharmacy Saxonburg Drug administered the Moderna vaccine to 60 residents of the Concordia Haven apartments. Suhan and his wife, Vivian, live at the retirement complex. They have been married for 59 years.

CABOT — About 60 residents at Concordia Haven Apartments received their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday that were provided by local pharmacy Saxonburg Drug.

“Saxonburg Drug was absolutely fantastic,” said Connor Hagey, director of retirement living. “We were just very thankful that they could accommodate as many residents as they could.”

The retirement home apartments are part of Concordia's Cabot Campus, but because the facility is home to seniors living independently, they fall out of the purview of federally driven vaccinations.

Since the approval of the two circulated vaccines, seniors in long-term care facilities have received vaccinations through the Federal Pharmacy Partnership program, which sends pharmacies like Walgreens and Rite Aid directly to those facilities.Despite being an at-risk population for COVID-19, congregate living facilities, like the Haven Apartments, were left out of those vaccination efforts.“When we learned that wasn't going to happen, we had to work through channels that would work with us,” Hagey said. “Saxonburg Drug saw that this was a need.”

Saxonburg Drug owner Maura Brown administered the vaccines herself, assisted by her husband, Dr. Frank Brown, who is a retired physician. Also assisting with the paperwork was their son, Frank Brown IV.“I wanted to help them simply because they have a lot of people who qualify for the vaccine,” Maura Brown said. “I think that it's important for everyone who's able to participate to participate.”The Haven residents will likely receive their second dose in about three weeks. State officials confirmed Wednesday they have been splitting their allocations between first and second doses to ensure this takes place.Hagey said there were some residents who did not receive a vaccination Wednesday, but most of them were able to schedule visits with Butler Memorial Hospital or other locations.Brown said Saxonburg Drug was one of the first pharmacies to register with the state Department of Health, which has resulted in the pharmacy receiving about 300 doses of the Moderna vaccine to date, coming in batches of 100 at a time.

She said most of the first 200 doses came at times when Phase 1A was stricter about who could receive vaccinations. Early renditions of the plans only included medical professionals in the first phase and those living in nursing homes and personal care homes.Since then, the phase has grown in acceptable groups, but it has also added more demand with not enough supply to go around.Brown said she has received numerous calls from community members seeking to schedule vaccine appointments, but she is not prepared for that type of effort at this time.She said she is doing what she can do, and will open scheduling to more people in the county when her pharmacy receives more doses.“I think everyone will have an opportunity to get vaccinated who wants to get vaccinated,” Brown said. “I think it's the only way we're going to get back to normal life.”

Saxonburg Drug distributed 60 of the Moderna vaccines to the residents of the Concordia Haven apartments Wednesday afternoon. February 3, 2021.

Retired physician, Dr. Frank Brown, vaccinates Concordia Haven resident Jean Stickley, 85, Wednesday afternoon. Saxonburg Drug distributed the Moderna vaccine to 60 residents of the Concordia Haven apartments. February 3, 2021.

Concordia Haven resident Pat Goodman, 82, receives a COVID-19 vaccine Wednesday afternoon from retired physician Dr. Frank Brown. Local pharmacy Saxonburg Drug administered the Moderna vaccine to 60 residents of the Concordia Haven apartments.