Norman Pharmacist Helps In Effort To Vaccinate Seniors In Honor Of Grandmother Who Died Of COVID

Norman Pharmacist Jodi Cagley-Dozier said she jumped at the chance to help in the statewide effort to vaccinate residents of nursing homes and long-term care facilities in Oklahoma. 

As one of two CVS depot leaders, Cagley-Dozier coordinated vaccine storage and distribution events at more than 100 facilities in the western half of the state. 

“I mostly did the planning and the organization, and I led the team,” she said, adding that the few opportunities she had to administer shots herself were rewarding. “Honestly, that was the best part. That was the whole reason I was doing it. It was for those residents.” 

Cagley-Dozier’s inspiration came from her grandmother, who died of COVID-19 while living in a long-term care facility. She said pandemic protocols made a heartbreaking situation unbearable. 

“She wasn’t able to beat it. And we lost her in May,” Cagley-Dozier said. “What was so horrible about the whole experience is that no one got to say goodbye. The last time anyone saw her, my mother got to see her, she got to see her mom. It was on Mother’s Day. She couldn’t get close to her.” 

Months later, Cagley-Dozier was offered the role of depot leader, and said she was determined to help vaccinate seniors so others could avoid the experience her family went through. 

“I didn’t want others to suffer the way my family had suffered, and everyone has a story like that. If you don’t have that story, you know someone who does,” she said. 

CVS administered more than 21,800 first and second COVID-19 vaccine doses in Oklahoma from December 21 through March in 176 facilities.“Honestly that’s what Nana would want me to do,” Cagley-Dozier said. “That’s how she raised me.”