The Biden administration will begin delivering COVID-19 vaccines directly to U.S. pharmacies next week, stepping up immunizations as new and potentially more serious variants appear, the White House said on Tuesday.
Jeff Zients, coordinator of the president’s COVID-19 working group, said about 6,500 retail pharmacies across the country will receive a total of one million doses.
The pharmacy program will be administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and includes major outlets such as CVS Health. Walgreens Co., Walmart Inc., Rite Aid Co. and Costco Wholesale, as well as supermarket pharmacies.
The number of participating pharmacies is expected to increase as drug manufacturers increase production, allowing more doses to be allocated – and the program is separate from the one that uses pharmacies to vaccinate nursing home residents.
Drug stores have become a mainstay of flu and shingles vaccines, and the industry is able to vaccinate tens of millions of people every month.
This will provide more sites for people to be vaccinated in their communities, ”Zients told reporters, noting that due to supply constraints, initial availability will be limited.
Zients also announced a five percent increase in doses delivered by the government to states, territories and some major metropolitan areas.
They will now total 10.5 million doses in all jurisdictions, up from 10 million announced last week.
On February 11, the Biden administration will begin transporting one million coronavirus vaccines to 6,500 pharmacies across the country. Pictured: Pharmacist John Forbes gives the Modern GOVID-19 vaccine to Meghan Bohlander, a physician’s assistant, at Medicap Pharmacy in Urbandale, Iowa, January 2021
The White House announced a 5% increase in doses shipped to states, in addition to the 16% announced last week for a total of 10.5 million doses in all jurisdictions, increasing the rate of daily vaccinations
To date, 26 million Americans have received at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine and more than 6 million at least two doses
To date, the federal government has delivered more than 52 million vaccines, 46 receiving at least one dose and more than six million at least two doses.
A priority will be to administer the vaccine to minority communities that have suffered a disproportionately high number of diseases and deaths caused by the virus, Zeints said.
The partnership with pharmacies was initially announced by the Trump administration in November last year, although no vaccines were approved at the time.
CVS intends to start offering vaccinations in doses that arrive on the first day, February 11th
The pharmacy expects 250,000 doses to arrive in 330 stores in 11 states such as California and New York, Politico reported.
Walgreens, meanwhile, said it would begin dosing the day after deliveries arrived Feb. 12.
“Finally, as we will be able to increase supply, up to 40,000 pharmacies nationwide could offer Covid-19 vaccinations,” Zients said.
The one million doses shipped to pharmacies will be over 10.5 million doses allocated to states by week.
The White House has also taken steps to help states pay for their efforts to respond to the pandemic.
Zients said the federal government will make $ 3 billion to $ 5 billion available to states to retroactively cover certain costs eligible for reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
These can range from protective equipment for health workers, to the deployment of national guards, to the establishment of Community food programs. State spending in January last year will now be eligible for reimbursement.
But Zients said states need much more financial help from Washington, stressing that Biden’s American Rescue Plan legislation requires $ 350 billion for states. The counter-offer that a group of Republican senators advanced over the weekend omitted the line item.
Data from the CDC shows that so far, 52 million doses have been delivered
Jeff Zients, coordinator of the president’s COVID-19 working group, also said that states will also receive between $ 3 billion and $ 5 billion to cover costs retroactively, such as protective equipment for health care workers. Pictured: Zients addresses a press conference, December 2020
Some local jurisdictions have started offering vaccinations to pharmacies, but in most places this is not the case. Signs on the doors in front of the pharmacy say there is no vaccine available yet.
The two currently approved vaccines, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, require special cold storage.
And since the launch began in December, chains like CVS and Walgreens have gained experience with special handling requirements.
The Food and Drug Administration will soon weigh in on the approval of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a unique regimen that requires only standard refrigeration.
The world is generally in a race for the virus to vaccinate as many people as possible. Worrying mutations have been identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.
Officials say the race to increase vaccinations is vital, with variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil spreading across the county.
The British variant spreads more easily and has a higher probability of fatal disease. The South African variant may somewhat reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. All three mutations were identified in the United States with a total of at least 482 cases.
The vaccine is free for Americans, thanks to legislation passed by Congress.
Up to 60% of the doses distributed have been administered so far, a significant improvement over just a few weeks ago.
Even in the case of the massive snowstorm that hit the northeast, Zients said “all the vaccines were available to the states on time.”
He acknowledged, however, that some vaccination centers had to be closed temporarily due to the weather.