'Pharmacy deserts' are new front in the race to vaccinate for COVID-19 SOO RIN KIM, ERIN SCHUMAKER, MARK NICHOLS and EVAN SIMON March 5, 2021, 2:00 AM·17 min read Jorge Figueroa was willing to drive eight hours round trip. He wasn't going on vacation or to visit a relative. Instead, he was planning to get a life-saving shot to protect him from COVID-19 -- a shot that many Americans can now conveniently access at their neighborhood pharmacy. The 54-year-old father of four has been eager to get vaccinated because he has high blood pressure, which could increase his risk of severe illness from the coronavirus. But Figueroa lives in Presidio, Texas, a city of about 4,000 people on the U.S.-Mexico border where there's no hospital, no full-time doctor and no pharmacy.