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Even With King Soopers, Walmart Added To Vaccine List, It's Still Tough ...
DENVER (CBS4)- The COVID-19 vaccine program is picking up steam with vaccine going directly topharmacies, like King Soopers and Walmart, without cutting into the allocation to states. But it is still tough to get appointments for the shots.
(credit: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)Clyde Mancuso of Centennial is trying to get a COVID vaccination for his wife.
"Very unsuccessful last night trying to get scheduled for anything," he said.
It should be getting easier. King Soopers is now one of the businesses getting the Moderna vaccine directly from the government through the Federal Retail Pharmacy program.
But when Mancuso went online to make an appointment what he got was "sorry there are no available time slots at this location. Try another."
"I did that at 12-15 King Soopers locations, and it was all the same, it said no vaccine available," Mancusco said.
(credit: CBS)The chain is now offering vaccinations at 137 of its 147 stores in Colorado, including City Markets.
Michelle Izor, King Soopers director of Pharmacies, told CBS4's Rick Sallinger, "I do say appointments fill up very quickly based on the number of doses we get per location."
It's not just King Soopers, Walgreens told CBS4 it has limited stores offering the vaccinations now and appointments are tight.
It was big news when Walmart announced it would be offering COVID vaccinations, but not yet and Safeway... Again good luck getting an appointment.
So, Clyde signed his wife up through a health care provider.
"With Kaiser I did find out with a virtual line and her number is number 47,000 something."
(credit: CBS)He acknowledged at least it's a good thing she doesn't have to stand in line.
Right now in Colorado, health care workers, those 65 years and up, K-12 education and child care workers are eligible to receive the COVID vaccine.
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Some People At The Colorado King Soopers Were Getting The COVID Vaccine ...
2021-03-23T02:05:34Z
Share Facebook Email X LinkedIn Copy link An icon in the shape of a lightning bolt. Impact Link Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Log in.Some customers at the Boulder, Colorado, King Soopers supermarket were there to get their COVID vaccines when an active shooting incident happened, ending in the deaths of ten people, including a police officer.
"I got a call that my daughter, grandchildren, and son-in-law walked into the pharmacy to get a COVID vaccine," a witness told CBS News.
According to the supermarket's website, King Soopers rolled out its vaccine program across Colorado starting February, with dozens of supermarket-linked pharmacies offering doses of the Moderna COVID vaccine to eligible people. The store also offers anti-body testing.
King Soopers is part of the Kroger grocery store company. There are nine stores in the Rocky Mountain region.
The Boulder Police Department tweeted about an "active shooter" at the Table Mesa King Soopers grocery store at around 2:49 p.M.
Police and the FBI then swarmed the scene.
The witness told CBS that he was in contact with his daughter, who said that the suspected shooter had "shot the woman in front of them."
The family ran and hid in a coat closet, staying quiet to avoid attracting the notice of the shooter. They were saved an hour later by cops who showed up to rescue them.
"This is not okay with me," the man said, adding that he was putting in a big pitch for gun control.
"When it's your family, you feel it."
King Soopers Sues Union For Collaborating With Out-of-state Organizers
Kevin J. Beaty/DenveriteKing Soopers' location in Denver's Central Park neighborhood. Feb. 6, 2025.Less than a week after thousands of King Soopers employees across the Front Range began to strike — protesting the grocery giant's alleged price gouging practices and understaffed stores — the company has filed a lawsuit against the union.
"Our associates work hard every day to serve their neighbors and families in Colorado, they deserve a union that puts them first, not one that prioritizes a strategy orchestrated by out-of-state special interests," Joe Kelley, President of King Soopers, said in a statement on Friday. "We're committed to a fair contract that delivers real wage increases, affordable healthcare, and pension stability — just like we always have. But we won't be pressured by illegal actions that hurt our stores, our associates, or the communities that rely on us."
According to the Kroger-owned grocery store chain, it is suing the workers union in federal court for prioritizing "out-of-state special interests" by "forcing the Company to bargain with labor unions from Washington and California."
The lawsuit claims the union violated the National Labor Relations Act by forcing King Soopers to include employees from outside UFCW Local 7, the union representing the striking King Soopers employees, in contract negotiations.
As evidence, the lawsuit outlines and quotes statements and messages where the unions appear to discuss joining forces to put pressure on the grocery chain.
"Together, united, UFCW 3000, UFCW Local 7, and Teamsters Local [38] will coordinate proposals and actions to show Kroger and Albertsons that again in 2025, when we stand together, we win," said an Oct. 23, 2024 statement from UFCW Local 3000, based in Des Moines, WA.
According to the lawsuit, the non-King Soopers unions include UFCW Local 3000; Teamsters Local 38, based in Everett, Washington; UFCW Local 770, based in Los Angeles, California; and UFCW Local 324 based in Buena Park, California.
King Soopers has requested that the union pay its legal fees and be required to pay "all costs, expenses, and damages sustained … as a result of Defendant's unlawful conduct."
In a statement, UFCW Local 7 called King Soopers' lawsuit "frivolous."
"It is particularly galling that King Soopers is making such false allegations given the Company's own track record of being caught lying about illegal coordination agreements with its competitor Safeway/Albertsons during the 2022 ULP strike by UFCW Local 7 workers," said Kim Cordova, President of UFCW Local 7, in a statement.
Colorado Girl Scouts get a cookie sales lifelineThe lawsuit comes in the wake of a separate lawsuit filed by UFCW Local 7 on Jan. 31. That suit alleges that during a 2022 strike, King Soopers and Albertsons colluded to prevent Safeway stores from hiring striking workers — weakening the union's bargaining power and preventing the union from negotiating higher wages.
A day after King Soopers announced plans to sue the workers' union, the company also pledged to donate $15,000 to Girl Scouts of Colorado and extend their cookie selling deadline from Feb. 24 to March 16.
Last week, CPR News reported that roughly 2,500 Girl Scouts from 470 troops in metro Denver count on the ability to sell cookies outside King Soopers locations each year. The cookie sales were put in jeopardy after employees at 77 King Soopers stores decided to go on strike.
"The new booth dates at King Soopers toward the end of the cookie program will help troops keep pushing to reach their goals," Girl Scouts of Colorado said in a statement. "We are also so grateful to the many businesses and organizations in our communities that stepped up to offer Girl Scouts booth locations today, tomorrow and over the next several weeks."
Neither UFCW Local 7 nor King Soopers representatives have responded to requests for comment on the pending litigation.
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