Walmart stores in Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina and Texas will offer COVID-19 vaccinations starting next week, the retailer said Friday.
Vaccines will be administered at Walmart pharmacies to groups that state health officials deemed most in need of inoculation. In Texas, for example, only health professionals, residents and nursing home workers, people 65 and older, or people 16 and older with chronic illnesses like sickle cell anemia, can get the vaccine for now. In New Jersey, those eligible for a vaccine include healthcare professionals, residents and nursing home employees, people 65 and older, first responders, and people 16 and older with chronic illnesses.
Vaccines will also be available at Walmart stores in Chicago and Puerto Rico.
Walmart already administers vaccines in stores in its home state, Arkansas, as well as in New Mexico, a Walmart spokesman told CBS MoneyWatch. During the expansion, the retailer will offer vaccines seven days a week, an executive said on a company blog.
“At full capacity, we expect to be able to deliver 10 to 13 million doses per month when supplies and allocations allow,” said Walmart executive vice president for health and well-being, Dr. Cheryl Pegus.
Walmart has more than 5,000 locations.
“With 150 million people passing through our doors each week, we are in a unique position to reach people where they already shop,” she said in the post, adding that the company also hopes to hold vaccination events in churches, stadiums and young centers.
Walmart joins CVS, Kroger, Rite Aid and Walgreens, among retailers offering vaccines.
Walmart move takes place in several states delay in vaccinating residents and President Joe Biden expects accelerate the launch. The momentum to speed things up is inviting large private sector companies to intervene, with Amazon, Costco, Microsoft and Starbucks all offering their help to speed up the pace of vaccinations.
Last week, Biden said he plans to speed up the distribution of vaccination by contacting the staff of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and training an additional 100,000 employees to administer the vaccines. He promised to vaccinate 100 million more Americans in the first 100 days of his presidency.
In other measures to intensify the fight against COVID-19, some states have activated their local National Guard troops to help distribute vaccines.