Vacid-19 Vaccines to Stress-Testing Grocery and Pharmacies

Not all Americans are eligible for vaccines and vaccines remain scarce. But vaccines are becoming more widely available in some states, and the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to make them available in local pharmacies starting next month. There is no cost to receive the vaccine.

(Check the WSJ state-by-state guide.)

The task of vaccinating large sections of the population will largely fall to retail pharmacies, with companies such as CVS Health Corp.

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, Walgreens WBA -2.83%

-Boots Alliance Inc., Walmart Inc.

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and Kroger Co.

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saying they are prepared to give tens of millions of injections a month.

“We will have to find ways to increase our access points. We need to be able to accelerate the rate of vaccination for people across the country if we want to slow that down, ”said Bart Buxton, co-chair of the Covid-19 vaccine task force at McLaren Health Care Corp. The hospital system in Flint, Michigan, teamed up with Walgreens to administer doses to its 26,000 employees as part of the first phase of vaccination.

Hospitals and health care systems, already burdened with treating patients with coronavirus, also cannot stand the impact of vaccines, said Buxton. “Healthcare systems like McLaren cannot do this alone.”

Pharmacies are well-positioned to play an important role in Covid-19’s vaccination efforts, industry executives say, because they are among the most affordable health care providers for many Americans, including people 65 and older who take medication in local supermarkets. or drugstores. These companies say they can also take advantage of their experience in providing vaccines against influenza, herpes zoster and other illnesses.

CVS and Walgreens combined have 19,000 stores in the U.S., while Walmart, Rite RAD -10.46%

Aid Corp., Kroger and Publix Super Markets Inc., together, have over 11,000 locations. Add dozens of regional grocery stores with pharmacy counters.

CVS says it can vaccinate 20 to 25 million people a month, once supplies are available. Walmart said in January that it would be able to vaccinate 10 million to 13 million a month.

President Biden said last Monday that his goal of administering 100 million vaccines against Covid-19 in his first 100 days in office could reach 150 million. As of Friday, 27.9 million injections have been administered, of which 49.2 million have been distributed since mid-December, according to CDC data.

Drugstore chains and retailers with pharmacies say they have the manpower and physical space to handle mass vaccination and, in some areas, have already taken action to help local and state officials. The big chains say they have online scheduling tools capable of handling a flow of appointments.

Walgreens said it plans to hire some 25,000 people in the United States to administer the vaccine. It employs 75,000 pharmacists and technicians. CVS, which employs 34,000 pharmacists and 65,000 technicians, did not say how many workers it is hiring.

One of the biggest challenges for retailers now is dealing with customers eager to know when it will be their turn.

“We are doing everything in our power to avoid confusion about how to be vaccinated,” said a CVS spokesman. In addition to long-term care facilities, the drugstore chain is offering injections to select groups in Indiana, Massachusetts, New York and Puerto Rico. Persons eligible for the vaccine should make an appointment.

“We answered that question dozens, hundreds of times a day,” said Charlie Hartig, chief executive of Hartig Drug Stores, a small Midwestern chain, on the issue of vaccine availability. “Education is taking up time.”

Associated Food Stores, a cooperative of more than 400 supermarkets and nearly 40 pharmacies, is working on how its team will report vaccinations and process complaints quickly.

For Associated Food, programming has been an area of ​​focus, said Chris Sheard, who oversees pharmacy operations at the company. In large part, their pharmacies operate directly and are now asking customers to schedule Covid-19 vaccines to ensure distance and cleanliness.

“People arrived during lunch. We can’t do that now, ”said Sheard. The company is trying to get the word out by increasing marketing and social media efforts and providing waiting lists where people can apply.

Others are looking for space to distribute vaccines and partnering with organizations to organize mass vaccination events. Iowa-based Hy-Vee Inc., a grocery store, is working with a local university to establish vaccination posts at a 16,000-square-foot facility, said Aaron Wiese, the company’s health director.

“You are seeing a significantly higher number when you say 65 or more and people with underlying diseases,” said Wiese. “Add other essential workers, you will need more capacity.”

Hy-Vee plans to use greenhouses, with controlled temperature and suitable for larger groups. The retailer also began testing so-called waiting pods, where customers can wait after receiving vaccines, and RVs with exam rooms. Hy-Vee plans to deploy RVs when it goes to the factories to immunize staff there, said Wiese.

Mass vaccination will require a robust online booking system, said America Davis, communications coordinator for Immunize Nevada, a nonprofit organization that created a website to schedule appointments in the state. It has been struggling to keep the site up and running amid overwhelming demand.

“Local and health officials are literally working around the clock to make sure we’re doing it right,” she said. “I don’t think anyone predicted exactly what the vaccine’s absorption would be.”

Write to Sharon Terlep at [email protected] and Jaewon Kang at [email protected]