The federal government will ship 1 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to a nationwide network of pharmacies starting Feb. 11 in an effort to make the injections more widely available, the White House announced Tuesday.
The shot shipments – which will initially go to 6,500 pharmacies across the country – are part of a wider extension of the federal effort to inoculate Americans against the deadly virus, said White House COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients. .
“This will provide more locations where people in their communities can be vaccinated,” Zients said during a virtual briefing.
While the first wave would be relatively small due to ongoing supply issues, Zients said it plans to eventually expand the program more than sixfold.
“This first phase of activating local pharmacies will be given more weapons and will ensure that pharmacies have the infrastructure and experience they need to scale up as the vaccine supply increases in the coming months,” he said. “Ultimately, because we can increase the supply, up to 40,000 pharmacies nationwide can deliver COVID-19 vaccines.
“These are places ranging from local independent pharmacies to rural grocery store pharmacies,” he continued. “This is a critical step in providing the public with convenient, trusted places to get vaccinated in their communities.”
In upstate New York, CVS will receive approximately 20,600 doses in 32 stores, according to the chain, but that doesn’t include New York City locations for now.
Walgreens locations, including in the city, will also receive doses as part of the program, although the announcement did not include details on the quantities.
CVS and Walgreens have already administered vaccines in nursing homes, but these new injections would be available to other eligible people in the community.
However, the pharmacy vaccines will still be subject to the state’s eligibility guidelines on who can get the injection and when. In New York, they currently include health workers, teachers, police officers, public transportation workers, people living in homeless shelters, and anyone over 65.
Zients announced the announcement Tuesday because he also said the FBI would individually increase the number of doses sent to states by 5 percent.