The Biden administration will begin shipping COVID-19 vaccines directly to US pharmacies next week, ramping up immunizations as new and potentially more serious variants emerge, the White House said Tuesday.
Jeff Zients, coordinator of the president’s COVID-19 task force, said approximately 6,500 pharmacies across the country will receive a total of one million doses.
The pharmacy program is operated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and includes major outlets such as CVS Health. Walgreens Co, Walmart Inc, Rite Aid Co, and Costco Wholesale, as well as supermarket pharmacies.
The number of participating pharmacies is expected to grow as drug manufacturers increase production, allowing for more doses to be allocated – and the program is separate from the one that pharmacies use to vaccinate nursing home residents.
Drugstores have become a mainstay for flu shots and shingles vaccines, and the industry is capable of vaccinating tens of millions of people every month.
This will provide more locations where people in their communities can be vaccinated, ”Zients told reporters, underlining that due to supply constraints, initial availability will be limited.
Zients also announced a five percent increase in the doses the government sends to states, territories and some major metropolitan areas.
These now total 10.5 million doses across all jurisdictions, up from 10 million announced last week.
On Feb. 11, Biden’s government will begin sending one million vaccinations against the coronavirus to 6,500 pharmacies across the country. Pictured: Pharmacist John Forbes gives the Moderna GOVID-19 vaccine to Meghan Bohlander, a doctor’s assistant, at the Medicap pharmacy in Urbandale, Iowa, January 2021
The White House announced a 5% increase in doses sent to states, on top of the 16% announced last week for a total of 10.5 million doses in all jurisdictions, increasing the percentage of daily vaccinations
So far, 26 million Americans have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and more than 6 million at least two doses
So far, the federal government has shipped more than 52 million vaccines, 46 of which are at least one dose and more than six million at least two doses.
A priority will be to bring the vaccine to minority communities that have suffered a disproportionately high toll of illness and deaths from the virus, Zeints said.
The drugstore partnership was originally announced by the Trump administration last November, although no vaccines had been approved at the time.
CVS plans to offer vaccinations from doses that arrive on the first day, Feb. 11
The pharmacy expects 250,000 doses to arrive in 330 stores in 11 states, such as California and New York, Politico reported.
Meanwhile, Walgreens said it will begin administering doses the day after the shipments arrive, Feb. 12.
“Ultimately, because we can increase the supply, up to 40,000 pharmacies nationwide could provide Covid-19 vaccinations,” Zients said.
The one million doses sent to pharmacies are in addition to the 10.5 million doses assigned to states each week.
The White House also took steps to help states pay for their pandemic response.
Zients said the federal government will make $ 3 billion to $ 5 billion available to states to retroactively cover certain costs eligible for reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
These can range from protective clothing for health workers to deploying their National Guard to setting up community food programs. State expenditures from last January are now eligible for reimbursement.
But Zients said states need a lot more financial assistance from Washington, noting that Biden’s US bailout legislation is asking $ 350 billion for states. The counter offer brought up by a group of Republican senators over the weekend omits that item.
Data from the CDC shows that 52 million doses have been sent so far
Jeff Zients, coordinator of the president’s COVID-19 task force, also said states will also receive $ 3 billion to $ 5 billion to retroactively cover costs, such as protective equipment for health workers. Pictured: Zients addresses a press conference, December 2020
Some local jurisdictions have begun to offer vaccinations at drug stores, but most places have not. Signs on the front doors of pharmacies say no vaccine is available yet.
The two currently approved vaccines, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, require special cold storage.
And since the rollout began in December, chains such as CVS and Walgreens have gained experience with the special handling requirements.
Soon, the Food and Drug Administration will consider approving a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a one-time regimen that requires only standard refrigeration.
The whole world is in a race with the virus to vaccinate as many people as possible. Alarming mutations have been identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.
Officials say race to ramp up vaccinations is vital, with variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil spreading across the province
The British variant spreads more easily and has a higher chance of a fatal disease. The South African variant can slightly reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. All three mutations have been identified in the US with at least 482 cases in total.
The vaccine is free for Americans, thanks to legislation passed by Congress.
More than 60 percent of the divided doses have been administered so far, a marked improvement from a few weeks ago.
Even with the massive snowstorm that has hit the Northeast, Zients said that “all vaccines are available to the states on schedule.”
But he acknowledged that some vaccination centers had to close temporarily due to the weather.