SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Starting on Monday, CVS Pharmacy will begin giving COVID-19 vaccines to employees and residents of California’s long-term care facilities.
On December 18, the first shot was fired by a CVS employee at a nursing home in Connecticut.
“We will be putting 9,000 vaccinators on the road to administer these vaccines across the country,” said Jonathan Roberts, vice president of CVS Health, then.
Ten days later, the CVS pharmacy will begin its 12-week vaccination program in California’s specialist wards and assisted living centers. The company hopes to give the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to about 700,000 people at 15,000 facilities across the state.
“Retail pharmacies are the basis of the approach here, because we are convenient and we are everywhere,” said Dr. Troy Brennan, medical director at CVS Health.
Earlier this month, the federal government signed contracts with Walgreens and CVS to deploy the vaccines due to existing infrastructure and personnel. CVS vaccinators will visit each facility at least three times for backup and check-ups within the 12-week rotation.
After this initial phase, CVS executives say they will move on to the next level of priority recipients, which includes essential workers, older Americans and those with chronic illnesses.
“We have the best chance of reaching the public, and the public likes this approach,” said Dr. Brennan.
Both pharmacies already use their websites and applications, where people can make appointments for COVID exams. In April, they say a similar page will be created for the general public to book vaccine appointments.
“We have a very flexible digital front end that we developed for testing, but it will be applicable here,” said Dr. Brennan.
Companies hope that its wide reach will help mitigate the spread by summer.
“I hope that in June or July, we will be in a situation where there will be a sufficient reduction in overall transmission, so that we can [return to] some kind of normal life. “