On Friday, several major pharmacies, including Walgreens, began distributing COVID-19 vaccines nationwide under President Biden’s distribution program. Carlos Cubia, senior VP and global chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance, joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss how the company is handling distribution – including within minority communities.
Video transcription
MYLES ABROAD: Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging here in the US, that we see cases coming, including hospitalizations. But this pandemic has certainly opened the eyes of many Americans to the inequalities we have seen within the healthcare system.
He is now joining us to talk more about how corporate America feels about the next phase of treatment here in the US, Carlos Cubia. He is Walgreens Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer. We are also joined by Anjalee Khemlani from Yahoo Finance.
Carlos, thank you very much for joining the program today. I’d like to start off by getting a little bit of your opinion on how you think at Walgreens about, again, the challenges that U.S. health care equality really faces and I think the ways we’ve all faced this lack of access to vaccines, be it that phase, testing in the beginning, and I think the COVID treatment continues as this situation unfolds.
CARLOS CUBIA: Sure. Thank you for having me. I am happy to be here with you today. When we think of the vaccine itself, we know there are health differences in the black and brown communities. And at Walgreens Boots Alliance, we are committed to making sure we reach the disadvantaged and underrepresented communities through education, targeting disadvantaged areas with our vaccines.
I mean, we’ve been in the vaccine game for a long time. We know how to reach those disadvantaged and hard-to-reach communities. And it is a commitment that we made many years ago, and I think today we are well positioned to continue to learn and provide the necessary information so that people can access the vaccine.
BRIAN SOZZI: So Carlos, vaccines are now starting to hit some of your stores in 15 states. What protocols have you put in place to make sure the right people get this vaccine?
CARLOS CUBIA: As you know, the first batch of vaccines to be released was dictated by the CDC, states, and local governments. That’s why we’ve worked with those organizations to make sure we adhere to the guidelines they set. But as we move into mass distribution, we want to make sure we are equipped to do a number of things, make sure the vaccine is widely available in all the communities that need it.
And I know that in some areas that are hard to reach, we’ve developed strategies to move to mobile clinics, to work with outside clinics to make sure we get into those disadvantaged areas, to follow the protocol that the CDC has drafted. and to really go out and make the vaccine available to everyone. So really follow the guidelines and protocol that the CDC and the state and local governments have established.
ANJALEE KHEMLANI: Carlos, Anjalee here. There seems to be a twofold technological problem at stake. One of them is agreements and they make. And second is to collect and record that data to ensure that we keep track of minorities and ethnic groups – and different ethnic groups who get access to the vaccine. What is Walgreens doing to address both?
CARLOS CUBIA: Well, again, as I said before, we have been doing vaccines and recording that information and gathering that data so that we can share it with the necessary organizations and authorities that – those – where needed. So we’ll continue to follow those guidelines through technology we’ve put in place during our registration process. And so this is not new to us in terms of this information.
I mean, this is something we’ve been doing for a long time. So really, we’ll continue to follow the protocols that have already been put in place. And if there are new procedures required by the federal government or the CDC, we will quickly work with our teams to put them in place and follow those guidelines.
JULIE HYMAN: Carlos, it’s Julie here. When you talk about the need to distribute the vaccine in minority communities, part of that piece too – and you talked about education, which is of course very important. Part of that piece is also who administers the vaccine.
And I don’t just mean Walgreens. I mean the actual person giving the shot. What percentage of your pharmacists are people of color, are people who are similar to their constituents who they contact, because that could be part of the puzzle too?
CARLOS CUBIA: Well, I can tell you that we have a very diverse population in terms of our pharmacists and our pharmacy technicians who are trained to administer the vaccine. And we take great pride in the fact that our pharmacists represent the communities in which they operate. To give you that exact number, I will probably have to call you back with that exact number.
But our population of diverse field workers is 49%, so we have 49% diversity. And to a large extent our pharmacy population matches that, but I can get back to you with that exact number. But we make sure that we represent the community and that we try to reach those areas with people who can connect and who are, you know, in those communities.
JULIE HYMAN: Mm-hmm.
ANJALEE KHEMLANI: And Carlos …
CARLOS CUBIA: Sorry. Go ahead.
ANJALEE KHEMLANI: – looking at the– don’t worry. And looking at the administration itself, we know that these two vaccines available now have specific cold temperature requirements and we look forward to seeing J&J probably coming online in the next month, what are your thoughts on how to get them out there , especially among these hard-to-reach communities, depending on which vaccine will be shipped specifically?
CARLOS CUBIA: Well, at the moment we are equipped for all the different requirements required for each of the respective vaccines. We have the extreme cold temperatures in our stores. For the normal temperatures for, I think, the Moderna vaccine, we have those options.
And as I said in the past, we’ve been using vaccines, whether it’s the flu vaccine, a pneumonia vaccine, the shingles vaccine, we can quickly run to find the accommodations we need to store them and then take them to the necessary locations where we will manage them. So we are pretty sure that we are able to meet all the set criteria.
MYLES ABROAD: Okay, Carlos Cubia is the Global Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Walgreens Boots Alliance. Carlos, I really appreciate you taking some time to talk to us this morning, and I know we’ll be talking soon.
CARLOS CUBIA: Thank you. Thanks for letting me be here.