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How will pharmacies administer millions of covid vaccines per month?

2021-02-05T12:37:34.291Z


Covid-19 vaccine shipments will head to pharmacies next week under a program to vaccinate more people quickly.


Vaccines will arrive in US pharmacies 0:38

(CNN) -

Covid-19 vaccine shipments will head to pharmacies next week under a federal program that aims to vaccinate more people quickly.

Twenty-one "national pharmacies and independent pharmacy networks representing more than 40,000 pharmacies nationwide" participate in the program, according to a government fact sheet, which includes a list of all participating pharmacies or networks.

In phase one of the distribution plan, one million doses will be shipped to approximately 6,500 stores, including Walgreens, CVS, Walmart, Publix and other pharmacies, beginning February 11.

Many pharmacies already vaccinate people against various diseases including the flu and shingles.

Some experts have suggested that pharmacies across the country will have the capacity to administer 100 million doses of the covid-19 vaccine once a supply is available.

"Under conservative assumptions, pharmacies have the capacity to meet the demand for 100 million doses of vaccines in a month when that level of vaccine supply is available," Steven Anderson, president and CEO of the National Association, said last month. Chain Pharmacies.

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Pharmacies are also "easily accessible in most communities, and most Americans live within 5 miles of a pharmacy," White House covid-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said earlier this week. week.

Here's how the plan will work.

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Phase one will include only some pharmacies in certain states

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Pharmacies that will have the vaccine are selected by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the states, taking into account "their ability to reach some of the populations most at risk of disease from covid-19, including socially vulnerable communities, "according to Zients.

"In the initial phase, many pharmacies across the country will not have vaccines or may have a very limited supply," Zients said Tuesday.

CVS and Walgreens will receive a large portion of the first shipment of vaccines.

Starting Thursday, CVS said it will offer doses to eligible individuals at some of its stores in 11 states, including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

CVS will have about a quarter of a million total starting doses.

Walgreens said it will begin offering vaccines on February 12 in 15 states, including Chicago and other locations in Illinois, Connecticut, Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, including New York City, North Carolina. , Puerto Rico, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.

Not all CVS or Walgreens pharmacies in these states will have the vaccine in this initial phase.

However, "as more supply becomes available, the company will expand to other states while increasing the number of stores that carry vaccines," CVS said in a press release.

Walmart will offer the vaccine in some of its stores in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, and Wyoming.

"Once a store or club receives the assignment, our online scheduler will be available to make appointments," Walmart said in a statement.

Walmart said last month that it expects to be able to administer 10 to 13 million doses per month "when supplies and allocations allow" at its more than 5,000 pharmacies in the United States and Puerto Rico.

CVS has said that it eventually hopes to be able to administer up to 20 to 25 million injections per month at its nearly 10,000 stores.

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Program pharmacies will follow state guidelines and will only vaccinate people who are eligible in that state.

Most states have followed the CDC's recommendation and are offering vaccines to frontline workers and the elderly in long-term care facilities at this time.

States like Florida and Georgia also offer vaccines to people 65 and older.

Those who are eligible will be able to sign up for an appointment.

Appointments can be made online or by phone

Experts hope that vaccination appointments will eliminate waiting times for customers and make the process similar to getting a flu shot at the local pharmacy.

There is normally a 15 minute wait time after receiving the COVID-19 injection to ensure that people do not have an allergic reaction.

Appointments can be made online or by phone.

At Walgreens, appointments can be booked through a vaccine scheduler.

The CVS website allows you to search by state.

Requiring everyone to date will also help stores make sure people are socially distanced and that there are no crowds.

"Vaccinations are by appointment, so we know how many people will need to be observed," a Walmart spokesperson told CNN in an email.

In places where Walmart will host vaccination clinics, it will have stickers on the floor to mark social distancing.

The stores will also space out the chairs so that people are socially distanced.

Anyone can get the vaccine at no cost, even people who are uninsured or underinsured.

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Challenges include sourcing and staffing

Providing vaccines at this stage is the main challenge.

At first, only one million doses will be shipped to pharmacies, and it is unclear if or when the allocation to pharmacies will be increased.

That will increase over time, as more supply becomes available.

CVS has hired about 10,000 pharmacy technicians to administer coronavirus vaccines and tests, said Michael DeAngelis, a spokesman for CVS.

It plans to have around 90,000 employees, including pharmacists, licensed pharmacy technicians and nurses, administer vaccines.

Walmart hasn't put a number on how many pharmacy staff members it will need to add for the vaccine.

But it is offering current staff a bonus for recommending qualified candidates, a Walmart spokesperson told CNN in an email.

Supply constraints and a mosaic system of vaccine eligibility by states are not the only challenges facing these chains and their staff.

Pharmacy chains are also bracing for misinformation about the vaccine online.

Giant Eagle, which has more than 400 stores in five states, has prepared talking points for its 600-plus pharmacists who will administer the vaccine.

The goal is to help combat false information about the virus, Victor Vercammen, the network's director of pandemics, said in an interview last month.

“We are also doing our best to educate people… to help them analyze what could be on social media, what could be fact, what could be opinion, on topics such as the safety of the covid vaccine ", said.

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Pharmacies are ready, says trade group

Once the vaccine supply is available, pharmacies across the country could vaccinate seven people an hour and 100 million a month, even with current staff, according to the National Association of Chain Pharmacies.

The group's model assumes that 40,000 pharmacy chains, including traditional pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens, supermarkets like Kroger, and large retailers like Walmart and Costco, can administer 3.3 million vaccines per day.

The model does not include independent pharmacies in the United States that will also administer the vaccine and are part of the federal association.

If all of the nearly 17,000 independent pharmacies that administer immunizations had the covid-19 vaccine, they could administer about 1.28 million per day, according to the National Association of Community Pharmacists.

covid-19 vaccine

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2021-02-05

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