- The Biden administration is launching its plan to distribute COVID-19 vaccines to pharmacies across the country.
- Initially, 1 million doses per week will be sent to 4,600 pharmacies, which include CVS and Walgreens.
- Eventually, the program will be expanded to more than 40,000 pharmacies.
- Pharmacy officials say they have the infrastructure and the experience to make the program work efficiently.
As pharmacies across the United States gear up for the Feb. 11 launch of on-site COVID-19 vaccines, pharmacy executives and health experts ask people to stock up on three things.
They urge people to solidify their ability to navigate appointment information online as well as document any underlying medical conditions. And, they ask folks to have patience. Lots of patience.
“We have the capacity to administer 10 million doses in 30 days within the 4,600 sites (in the first round of openings),” Kathleen Jaeger, senior vice president of pharmacy care and patient advocacy at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS), said in a press briefing last week addressing the Biden administration’s implementation of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.
“That’s 83 per store per day at seven per hour,” she said.
Those doses will begin going into arms on Feb. 11, beginning the process of rolling up to what’s hoped to be more than 40,000 pharmacy-based vaccination site locations.
That would be one vaccination location within 5 miles of nearly every person in the United States.
Experts say the program will take time, coordination, and most of all, expanded dose production.
What can the public expect?
Source: healthline