On Thursday, the federal government will begin shipping 1 million doses of Covid vaccines directly to pharmacies across the country as part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, the Biden administration’s Covid-19 response team announced.
That sounds like good news, and the idea is that eligible people should be able to book an appointment at a participating pharmacy to take the photos, especially in hard-to-reach areas, Covid White House Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said at a press conference. February 2.
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While the move adds some entry points for people to get vaccinated, “it may help” but “it is not a single solution,” said Brian Castrucci, epidemiologist and president and CEO of the Beaumont Foundation, the largest in the country. philanthropy focused solely on state and local public health.
Here’s what you need to know about getting the vaccine from pharmacies.
Which pharmacies will offer the Covid vaccine?
The initial rollout will include 6,500 pharmacies and supermarkets. The plan is to eventually expand to 40,000 pharmacies across the country as supply increases, but a timeline is unclear.
The major chains that will offer vaccines include Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, Rite Aid, as well as Walmart, Costco, Kroger, and Publix. The CDC has the full list of pharmacies and supermarkets.
CVS will offer vaccines starting Thursday in 11 states: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York (excluding New York City), Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
Walgreens will start the program on February 12 in 15 states and jurisdictions: Chicago, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, New York City, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia , the company said.
However, according to the CDC, many pharmacies do not initially have vaccines or have very limited supplies.
The CDC selected pharmacies based on the population served and the community reached, the ability to store vaccines, the ability to meet data reporting requirements, and the ability to vaccinate. The CDC is working with participating pharmacy companies to ensure they reach “socially vulnerable areas,” said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, chair of the White House’s Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force, Tuesday.
Uber announced on Tuesday that it will offer free rides to Walgreens stores and clinics for people in disadvantaged communities who need to make a vaccination appointment.
How do you get the Covid vaccine from a pharmacy?
So far, making an appointment online to get the vaccine through state and local health departments has been confusing and difficult to navigate.
According to Castrucci, one of the challenges of getting a vaccination agreement is that local public health systems, hospitals and pharmacies that distribute the vaccines don’t communicate with each other about the doses available. “Nobody talks to anyone,” he says.
As of now, people seeking vaccines will still have to make an appointment online through the pharmacy’s website.
But there are plans to provide accommodations for those who don’t have access to the Internet or aren’t tech-savvy, such as scheduling appointments over the phone, Ban told NBC’s TODAY. However, it is unclear when such accommodation will be available.
Senior White House advisor Andy Slavitt, who was instrumental in fixing the Obamacare website in 2014, hopes the process will be more streamlined than the current one.
“We’re looking at several options to make it easier for someone who wants to know: hey, if there’s a vaccine near me, maybe it’s not at my nearest pharmacy, maybe it’s at a pharmacy two pharmacies away , or maybe it’s at a hospital or clinic, ”Slavitt told NPR’s“ All Things Considered ”on Tuesday.
‘How do we help people find the answer to that? And so we are working on that. ‘
When can healthy young people get the vaccine?
This story has been updated to reflect Fauci’s statement on current vaccine projections.