A senior Oregon official told state lawmakers on Wednesday that the number of pharmacies offering COVID-19 vaccines is about to increase dramatically, with Bi-Mart stores in the state possibly starting to offer coronavirus vaccines on Thursday. and Walmart stores on Saturday or Sunday.
Oregon Health Authority Director Patrick Allen said 15,400 of the 34,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccine the state has received are sent to pharmacies administered by the two chains.
“Bi-Mart should start administering these doses very soon, potentially tomorrow,” said Allen to a state subcommittee of COVID-19. “Walmart needed a little more time to set up and should be next weekend.”
Oregonian / OregonLive contacted the two companies to confirm, but was unable to contact the company representatives immediately.
Allen said pharmacies will become vitally important in delivering vaccines to Oregon residents.
“This is a channel that has been used quite a bit so far, with about 12,000 doses a week,” said Allen. “That number will start to skyrocket, as will the number of pharmacies involved.”
Allen said that just over 130 pharmacies across the state are now delivering injections into the arms of Oregon residents now. He said that there are about 600 pharmacies across the state, “on every corner,” and their proximity to communities across the state will prove to be a great benefit.
The Oregon pharmacies that currently administer doses are Albertsons, Safeway, Costco, Walgreens and Health Mart. The vaccinefinder.org website shows participating pharmacies.
Allen did not list the number of Bi-Marts and Walmarts that will vaccinate Oregonians. There are approximately 60 Bi-Mart stores and 45 Walmart stores in Oregon, although the companies’ websites did not make it clear whether each store had a pharmacy.
The Food and Drug Administration gave Johnson & Johnson authorization for emergency use of the vaccine last Saturday. One study estimated the vaccine’s effectiveness to be 72% in the United States with its single dose regimen. Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are estimated to be about 95% effective after two doses.
But Allen emphasized that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine cannot be compared “face to face” with Pfizer and Moderna because its tests were carried out at a time when the South African variant played no role in the United States. A trial later carried out with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in South Africa showed that it was effective in reducing hospitalizations and deaths. The vaccine was 64% effective in South Africa.
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– Aimee Green; [email protected]; @o_aimee