TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - President Joe Biden announced the federal government will distribute the coronavirus vaccine to pharmacies across the country.

Pharmacies throughout northeast Mississippi are itching to get their hands on it, including Zip Scripts in Tupelo.

Candace Sanders is the pharmacy manager at Zip Scripts.

She said when pharmacies became an option for administering the vaccine, she immediately began preparing.

“I knew as soon as that came up you know I jumped on that -- like Johnson and Johnson’s about to get out, let’s go get the thing.”

Sanders administered vaccines to patients for over 12 years.

She said she's never been as excited to administer vaccines until now. 

“I see this as a community service rather than necessarily driving business or anything like that because I do want my patients to be healthy," said Sanders. "I care about them."

The process of receiving the vaccine is difficult and takes many steps, but once Zip Scripts does get doses, Sanders plans to make the process a drive through to keep things moving quickly.

Cameron Montgomery, a Tupelo native, is one of those still waiting to get his vaccine.

He said his sister works in the medical field, so he believes it's important for everyone in his family to support her by getting the vaccine.

He also mentioned that he hopes by allowing pharmacies to administer doses to the community, it will give more people a chance to receive the vaccine and hopefully slow the spread of the virus.

“I hope they make it available to where everybody can get it and not just a handful of people,” said Montgomery.

Sanders said Zip Scripts plans to get the Johnson and Johnson vaccine once it becomes available for use.

She said when it does, people will make an appointment to ensure they have enough vaccines for those seeking the shot.

“We just want to make sure that you’re healthy," explained Sanders. "We just want to make sure that you don’t get severely ill if we can prevent it.”

The Mississippi Insurance Department sent out notices to insurance companies last week to make sure they cover 100% of the cost of getting a coronavirus vaccine.