A health professional wearing a protective mask fills a syringe with a dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine at a large-scale vaccination site in Sacramento, California, Feb. 4, 2021.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
As vaccination efforts against Covid-19 are gaining momentum at major retailers and pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens, what to do with excess vaccine is growing in demand.
Both versions of the vaccine must be stored at very low temperatures. After thawing, the vaccine should be administered within a few hours. In addition, vaccine vials contain multiple doses.
Companies told The Wall Street Journal that they plan to use waiting lists and will consider vaccinating eligible workers when excess supplies become available. The goal is to avoid wasting doses that are still scarce.
Starting Thursday, vaccine doses will be shipped to thousands of pharmacies and supermarkets such as CVS and Walmart in the U.S. This move will begin with approximately 6,500 retail locations and help accelerate rollout, protecting more Americans from Covid-19.
The companies schedule appointments based on the amount of vaccine they receive at each location, but they may be over-fed if customers don’t show up for an appointment or if a vaccine bottle contains more vaccine than expected.
Currently, only two vaccines, one from Pfizer-BioNTech and one from Moderna, have received emergency use approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Both types require two doses of the shot to be effective.
The retailers must navigate through various state and local rules to qualify while managing waiting lists and determining what to do with excess doses. In some states, retailers are eligible to get the vaccine, while in others they are not considered a high priority group unless they are over a certain age or have a specific medical condition.
A spokeswoman for Walmart told the paper that the retailer has approached customers or employees who qualify under a state’s guidelines with the option of getting vaccinated if there is an oversupply.
Walmart worked with state health departments on protocols to prevent waste, a Walmart spokesperson told CNBC. These protocols allow for excess opened and available doses to be administered to individuals, including employees, who are listed in eligible groups in order of priority.
A Walgreens spokesperson told CNBC they will consider their employees for the remaining doses and communicate with the state and local jurisdictions for doses that go beyond.
Meanwhile, at CVS, pharmacists will maintain a list of qualified patients by state and use that to determine who gets leftover doses of the vaccine, CVS Health senior vice president Chris Cox told CNBC.
Read the full story in The Wall Street Journal.