RALEIGH, N.C. — Communities of color have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. A pharmacist in North Carolina is working to help by connecting Black and brown people to rapid tests and vaccines.

What You Need To Know

  • A Black pharmacist in Raleigh is working to close racial disparities in COVID-19 testing

  • Elvis Tanyi says the fight against COVID-19 is personal because he has lost customers to the virus

  • He helps the Black and Latino communities get vaccinated and boosted through his vaccination clinics at sites like churches and community centers

Elvis Tanyi, owner of City Pharmacy, has been on the frontlines of the COVID-19 response since the pandemic began two years ago. Walk-ins have been steadily coming in to get vaccinated or boosted since the omicron wave.

Given a surge in demand for testing, his latest shipment of rapid tests took three weeks to arrive because they were on back order.

“Every call, every two calls we had, people were looking for the tests, and while we were still struggling to get them,” Tanyi said. “As soon as we got them, we’ve been able to sell a few of them.”

Tanyi’s pharmacy is in a Southeast Raleigh neighborhood that was hit hard by COVID-19.

“We lost a lot of our patrons due to COVID, so for us this is personal because they, our patrons, I know them, not only by their names, even by their voices on the phone,” Tanyi said.“We lost a lot of our patrons due to COVID, so for us this is personal because they, our patrons, I know them, not only by their names, even by their voices on the phone,” Tanyi said.

Tanyi, who is from Cameroon, has been a pharmacist for more than 20 years. He says he chose this location to help members of the Black and Latino communities.

“We are a community pharmacy,” Tanyi said. “Our goal is actually to provide disadvantaged communities with the health care they need because we believe health care is not a privilege, but health care is a human and basic right.”

Tanyi says he’s able to connect with his customers because of his experience as an immigrant. His mission is to help as many people as he can, which is why he organizes vaccination clinics at churches, community centers and farms.

“We actually go out. We meet the people where they are,” Tanyi said. “So you know we’ve done over 4,000 shots, but we’ve done about 100 and something in the pharmacy.”

Tanyi says he is a big advocate for expanded testing, as well as getting the Black and Latino communities vaccinated against the virus.

Recently he was able to convince a family of five to finally get the COVID-19 vaccine. He is also waiting on state approval so that he can do drive-through PCR testing for his customers.