The CEO of Rite Aid expects states will tap into retailers to accelerate the rollout of the Covid vaccine

Rite Aid CEO Heyward Donigan said she expects retailers to soon play a larger – and earlier – role in the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine, as states and counties are under pressure to pick up the pace.

The vaccines will be distributed in stages, with Americans at higher risk, such as health workers and nursing home residents, given priority.

Rite Aid is expected to be part of phase two, when shots become available to the wider public, those who are not eligible for phase one due to their age, occupation or lack of underlying medical conditions, Donigan said at the virtual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday. The company is one of at least 19 drugstores and grocers that have partnered with the United States Department of Health and Human Services to provide the shots in their stores.

“I think this will be ramped up faster and faster,” she said.

So far, the pace of Covid vaccines has been slower than expected. The US has given out about 22.1 million doses and nearly 6.7 million people received their first injection, as of Friday – well short of the country’s original goal of immunizing at least 20 million people by the end of 2020 .

The rollout has been broken, with those getting priority receiving the vaccine varying widely from state to state and province to province. In some parts of Florida, demand far outstripped supply, leading to long lines and frustration. Still, at some vaccine sites in upstate New York, eligible recipients have refused shots or skipped appointments and Covid vaccines have ended up in the trash.

Rite Aid has given more than 5,000 Covid vaccinations to date, and it has seen those challenges firsthand, Donigan said.

“If you open a bottle and only one person gets a dose that day, you have to figure out what to do with the rest of the bottle,” she said. “It’s extremely complicated to figure out how to find the right people at that time, on that day, the most vulnerable, without losing things.”

CVS Health and Walgreens, who also plan to purchase shots from their stores, are involved in an earlier phase of the rollout. The companies began to administer vaccines to staff and residents of thousands of nursing and care homes in mid-December. They said they plan to complete the first round of admissions to long-term care facilities by January 25.

The Covid vaccinations can give drugstores a financial boost and enable them to showcase the changes they have made to their businesses. Not only will they be paid to give the photos, the companies can also benefit from more pedestrians in their stores – especially as consumers limit shopping trips and fill larger baskets during the pandemic.

Jefferies raised CVS’s stock rating to buy on Friday, saying his role in vaccination efforts could bring about $ 1 billion in incremental gross profit over the next 12 months.

Rite Aid has not yet predicted the impact of the vaccine, but COO Jim Peters said it will feed into his forecast for the next fiscal year.