A CVS pharmacy manager is preparing a dose of coronavirus disease vaccine (COVID-19) at Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Massachusetts, December 29, 2020.
Hoang “Leon” Nguyen | The Republican Swimming pool | through Reuters
CVS Health said on Wednesday that it is about to complete the first round of Covid vaccines at nursing homes across the country by January 25th.
The federal government has partnered with CVS and Walgreens to manage photos of residents and staff in long-term care facilities across the country. CVS stated that it aims to meet its original target for nursing homes with which it has already collaborated.
CVS said it now manages photos of nursing home residents and staff in 49 states and the District of Columbia. In addition to the nursing homes, the company said it will vaccinate residents and staff in assisted living facilities with nearly 31,000 such facilities in partnership with CVS.
The company said it faced several challenges during the program. The actual number of residents in nursing homes was about 20 percent to 30 percent lower than projections based on the number of beds, CVS said. He noted that “the initial absorption among staff is low”, adding that part of this is probably due to facilities that want to schedule staff vaccinations. The facilities are spaced vaccinations of employees to avoid shortages if the side effects keep some employees at home for several days.
“We are dealing with a vulnerable population that requires on-site and, in some cases, room visits to facilities with less than 100 residents on average,” CEO Larry Merlo said in a statement. “Despite these challenges, we remain on schedule, and the number of vaccines we administer will continue to grow as more facilities are activated by states.”
While more than 3.2 million doses of the vaccine were distributed by the federal government through the federal pharmaceutical partnership for the long-term care program, only 429,000 have been administered since Tuesday, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But CVS noted that the CDC data remains in reality for two to three days, which the CDC acknowledges.
The launch of the vaccine was slower than expected. Trump administration officials say they hope to vaccinate 20 million people in December, but as of Tuesday, just over 4.8 million have received the first dose, according to the CDC.
Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said Tuesday at an event hosted by STAT News that the launch is expected to accelerate.
“I really expect the pace of administration to increase quite massively in the next few weeks,” she said, adding that the facilities are resolved early and they feel comfortable handling the vaccines.
The Department of Health and Human Resources has used CVS and other retail pharmacies to finally offer vaccinations in locations across the country as the wider launch begins. CVS said on Wednesday it was in talks with several states “to make a limited number of doses available in the coming weeks before the wider launch”.
CVS comments come after Politico reported on Tuesday that a senior HHS official said between 3,000 and 6,000 pharmacies could start administering Covid-19 shots in the next two weeks.
– CNBC Melissa Repko and Kevin Stankiewicz contributed to this report.