WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Hy-Vee chairman, president and CEO Randy Edeker participated in a call on Thursday with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rochelle Walensky and White House COVID-19 response coordinator and counselor to the President Jeff Zients. They discussed the Biden administration’s future vaccine rollout plans, and how retailers are helping underserved populations gain access to vaccines.

Hy-Vee has been at the forefront of such efforts. Over the past several months, Hy-Vee has partnered with community groups, churches and other organizations to administer tens of thousands of COVID-19 vaccine doses in communities that traditionally may have struggled with access to health care.

Hy-Vee has also used its fleet of Hy-Vee Healthy You Mobiles to bring vaccines to large and small communities across the Midwest, and it has used onsite interpreters and translated documents and signs to help overcome language barriers.

In late April, Hy-Vee announced people could walk get vaccines without appointments at Hy-Vee Pharmacy locations. The retailer is also hosting pop-up vaccination clinics at community events.

“At Hy-Vee, our mission is to make lives easier, healthier and happier, and that mission has never been more important than now,” Edeker said. “Throughout this pandemic, local pharmacies have become the hub of neighborhood health care. With the help of regional pharmacy teams like Hy-Vee and our community partners, we’ve been able to help protect some of our most vulnerable populations against this virus.”

Hy-Vee noted that Iowa ranked 48th among states in the percent of vaccines administered before Hy-Vee got access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Today, Iowa is 5th in percent of vaccines administered.

Some recent examples of Hy-Vee’s efforts to bring community vaccination clinics to underserved populations include:

• 211 Iowa. In an effort to reach non-English speaking populations and those with limited access to internet and transportation, Hy-Vee partnered with 211 Iowa to host the state’s largest COVID-19 vaccination clinic to-date, vaccinating more than 3,500 individuals on April 3. A second dose clinic was held on April 24. Individuals called 211 where a vaccine navigator assisted them in scheduling an appointment and offered translation services, if needed. The clinic was held in downtown Des Moines, strategically located near a Des Moines Area Regional Transit (DART) Authority bus stop, which provides free transportation to/from vaccine appointments. Bilingual volunteers and staff were onsite during the clinic and signs were posted throughout the clinic in both English and Spanish to help guide Spanish-speaking populations. Hy-Vee held another, similar clinic in early April with 211 in Waterloo, Iowa, vaccinating more than 1,100 individuals.
• Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Hy-Vee collaborated with its long-time community partner the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) in Kansas City, Missouri, to help vaccinate underserved residents of the 18th & Vine District through hosting weekly vaccination clinics at the museum during March and April. Each Monday for six weeks, approximately 650 individuals were vaccinated at the clinic. Using its strong relations within the local community, the NLBM was able to promote the weekly clinics through flyers and word-of-mouth. Hy-Vee also worked with the museum to host walk-in sign-up hours prior to the clinics to allow area residents who did not have access to internet or needed further assistance in scheduling an appointment, an opportunity to do so in person.
• Salud. In Storm Lake, Iowa, Hy-Vee is partnering with Salud, a non-profit dedicated to advancing health equity, to help vaccinate underserved populations in the community. A clinic was held on April 11 to vaccinate the local Laotian community and an information session was held prior to the clinic to address the current COVID-19 vaccination progress, vaccination concerns and possible vaccine side effects, with local Laotian community leaders helping translate and field questions. Another clinic was held on April 18 to help vaccination the large Hispanic and Latino community in Storm Lake, and a similar clinic was held on May 2 to provide vaccinations for the Pacific Islander community there.
• Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. In Grand Island and Norfolk, Nebraska, Hy-Vee partnered with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services in April to hold vaccination clinics for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, along with their caregivers.
• Front Line Essential Businesses. Since February, Hy-Vee has partnered with more than 250 facilities to hold onsite vaccination clinics for employees. The majority of the onsite clinics have been for front line essential workers in the manufacturing and food processing industries, many of whom are minorities and/or non-English speaking.