SAN DIEGO (KGTV) – Starting Monday, CVS Pharmacy will begin administering COVID-19 vaccines to staff and residents of California’s long-term care facilities.
On December 18, the first shot was fired by a CVS employee at a nursing home in Connecticut.
“We will deploy 9,000 vaccinators to administer these vaccines across the country,” said Jonathan Roberts, vice president of CVS Health.
Ten days later, the CVS pharmacy will begin its 12-week vaccination program at California’s skilled nursing facilities and care centers. The company expects to administer the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to approximately 700,000 people at 15,000 facilities across the country.
“Retail pharmacies are the foundation of the approach here, both because we’re convenient and because we’re everywhere,” said Dr. Troy Brennan, medical director of CVS Health.
Earlier this month, the federal government awarded Walgreens and CVS contracts for the launch of vaccines because of existing infrastructure and staff. CVS vaccinators will visit each facility at least three times for recalls and controls during the 12-week rotation.
After this initial phase, CVS executives say they will move to the next level of priority recipients, which includes key workers, older Americans and those with chronic illnesses.
“We have the best chance of being able to reach the public, and the public likes this approach,” said Dr. Brennan.
Both pharmacies are already using their websites and applications, where people can make appointments for COVID testing. By April, they say a similar page will be created for the general public to make their vaccination schedules.
“We have a fairly flexible digital front end that we have developed for testing, but it will be applicable here,” said Dr. Brennan.
The companies hope that their wide coverage can help alleviate the spread by summer.
“I hope that by June or July, we will be in a situation where there will be a sufficient reduction in global transmission, that we will be able to [return to] a kind of normal life. “