CVS is launching the COVID-19 vaccine program for employees and residents of long-term care institutions. CVS Health Executive Vice President Tom Moriarty with more.
Walgreens and CVS are about to finish administering their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to qualified wards across the country by the end of the month, offering a little hope amid a tumultuous start to the new year.
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The two drugstore retail chains announced on Wednesday that their COVID-19 vaccine efforts are already underway at qualified nursing facilities that require greater patient care in 49 states and that the first round of doses will be completed on 25 January.
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Late last year, CVS and Walgreens were used by the United States Department of Health and Services for Third Parties to administer vaccinations to high-priority populations, before the general public, to contain the spread of the virus.
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To do this, Walgreens has partnered with 35,000 nursing and assisted living centers across the country.
Walgreens Pharmacy check out cash during Coronavirus Pandemic in Miami, Florida on May 28, 2020 (Jeffrey Greenberg / Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
“Since receiving our first doses of vaccines in late December, Walgreens has remained on track to vaccinate our most vulnerable populations,” said Walgreens President John Standley. “We are firmly committed to accelerating access to COVID-19 vaccines as we receive more guidance from state governments and jurisdictions. “
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Meanwhile, CVS Health has partnered with nearly 8,000 qualified nursing centers, as well as 31,000 assisted living centers across the country.
The effort does not come without challenges.
“We are dealing with a vulnerable population that requires on-site visits and, in some cases, rooms on the premises with less than 100 residents on average,” said CVS CEO Larry Merlo.
Despite this, Merlo says the company is on schedule.
“The number of vaccines we administer will continue to increase as more units are activated by the states,” he said.
CVS says the states will have “activated nearly 31,000 assisted living facilities in partnership with CVS Health next week, with the first doses administered at all facilities within three to four weeks of the start dates.”
Both companies have also reached an agreement with federal health officials to distribute free vaccines to the general public as soon as they become available. The goal is to make the vaccination COVID-19 similar to vaccination against influenza.
Walgreens plans to expand access to the general population in more than 9,000 stores “as soon as the COVID-19 vaccines become more widely available in 2021,” the company said.
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Likewise, CVS hopes to offer the vaccine to around 10,000 CVS Pharmacy locations across the country, once it is available to the general public, “scheduled for early 2021,” says the company’s website.
CVS estimates that it will be able to manage between 20 million to 25 million shots a month.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.