The federal government will send 1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to a national drugstore chain as of February 11, in an effort to make jabs more widely available, the White House announced on Tuesday.
The vaccine shipments – which will initially go to 6,500 pharmacies across the country – are part of a broader expansion of the federal effort to inoculate Americans against the deadly virus, said White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients.
“This will provide more places for people to be vaccinated in their communities,” said Zients, during a virtual briefing.
Although the first wave is relatively small in scope due to persistent supply problems, Zients said the plan is to expand the program more than six times.
“This initial phase of activating local pharmacies will get more injections and will ensure that pharmacies have the infrastructure and experience they need to grow when vaccine supplies increase in the coming months,” he said. “Eventually, as we can increase the supply, up to 40,000 pharmacies across the country could supply COVID-19 vaccines.
“These are places that range from independent local pharmacies to national pharmacies in supermarkets,” he continued. “This is a critical step in providing the public with convenient and reliable places to be vaccinated in their communities.”
In the state of New York, CVS is expected to receive about 20,600 doses in 32 stores, according to the chain – but that does not include any New York City location yet.
Walgreens stores, including in the city, will also receive doses as part of the program, although their announcement does not detail the quantities.
CVS and Walgreens already administer vaccines in nursing homes, but these new vaccines would be available to other eligible people in the community.
Pharmacy vaccines will still be subject to the state’s eligibility guidelines on who can receive the injection and when, however. In New York, this currently includes health workers, teachers, police officers, public transport workers, people living in homeless shelters and everyone over 65.
Zients made the announcement on Tuesday, as he also said the feds would separately increase the number of doses sent to the states by 5 percent.