One of the most discouraging facets of the slow release of the vaccine in the United States is that many doses were missed when people did not attend scheduled appointments. But now that the vaccine is becoming increasingly available in local pharmacies across the country, that is about to change. Three major drugstore chains, Walgreens, CVS and Walmart, have recently revealed that if they have extra doses, they will go to a select group of people. To see who is eligible for the remaining vaccine, read on and to find out when all Walgreens will offer COVID injections, check You can be vaccinated on any Walgreens by this date.
The vaccines available from Pfizer and Moderna should be stored between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit and -13 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively. After the vaccine thaws, it should be administered within six hours – otherwise, it is no longer viable. To avoid discarding valuable doses of vaccine, some pharmacies, such as CVS and Walgreens, are compiling waiting lists for employees qualified to vaccinate, Wall Street Newspaper reports.
Retailers are trying to navigate each state’s eligibility requirements to determine who can win a seat on the waiting list. Although retail workers are currently eligible for the vaccine in some states, they are not in others. Of course, some employees may be eligible due to their age or pre-existing conditions. To find out if Walgreens in your state has the COVID vaccine, check if you live in these states, you can now be vaccinated at Walgreens.
CVS pharmacists are also maintaining a list of qualified patients in each state to determine who will receive the remaining injections, senior vice president of CVS Health Chris Cox told CNBC.
A Walmart spokeswoman said Wall Street Newspaper they also plan to offer extra doses at the risk of being thrown out to buyers who meet state guidelines. To find out if your local CVS is offering the COVID vaccine, check if you live in these states, you can now be vaccinated at CVS.
According Wall Street Newspaper, “Companies say that the remaining doses, in many cases, can also go to workers who would not otherwise qualify, such as cashiers.”
While TJ Crawford, a CVS spokesman, said Fortune that excess doses are “minimal”, he added: “In the rare cases where we have expired doses, we look for qualified employees and customers. If we cannot find anyone in the eligible populations, we will make sure that no doses are missed by vaccinating. employees on site. “According to Fortune, Walmart also said that if no one eligible is available to use the excess vaccine later in the day, they will move to lower priority groups, where allowed.
This is in line with the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which “supports the optimization of the use of all COVID-19 vaccines”. The agency’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices says that sites should “expand the availability of the vaccine to broader population groups when the vaccine supply at a given location is at risk of not being used. Pharmacies should use this guidance when making plans to ensure that no doses are missed. ” And to get the most up-to-date COVID news straight to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
Doctors do not recommend going to your local vaccination post or pharmacy to see if they have an extra dose for you, as this can lead to overcrowding. “I worry about the potential for infection”, Leana Wen, MD, an emergency physician and professor of public health at George Washington University, said PBS News Hour. “How tragic would it be if you contracted the coronavirus … while trying to get a dose of the vaccine?”
But with the goal of vaccinating as many people as possible and wasting as little of the vaccine as possible, sites like vaxstandby.com and hidrb.com have started waiting lists to alert the public that overdoses may be available. Registered providers alert these sites about the amount of vaccine remaining, the time remaining for its viability and how many people wish to notify. Then VaxStandby sends a text message to people in the area who have signed up to receive vaccine alerts, based on postal code, reports from NBC Boston. And to see if your local Walmart is administering the COVID vaccine, check if you live in these states, you can now be vaccinated at Walmart.