Walgreens will begin scheduling doses of Pfizer coronavirus vaccine three weeks away, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), following customer complaints.
The US pharmaceutical chain has so far set photos four weeks apart, a week longer than recommended, as the extended schedule has made scheduling faster and easier, the New York Times reported Monday.
Starting this weekend, the Walgreens vaccine scheduling system will begin spacing photos three weeks apart, while maintaining the recommended four-week period for Modern’s own vaccine.
Walgreens Medical Director Kevin Ban had previously said that distancing Moderna and Pfizer vaccines at the same time was “the easiest way to support the process based on our capabilities at the time.”
Other major pharmacy chains, such as CVS and Rite Aid, had complied with the CDC’s vaccine distancing recommendations, the Times notes, distancing Pfizer photos 20 to 23 days apart.
The newspaper reports that there is no evidence to suggest that an extra week reduces the effectiveness of the vaccine, and the CDC said it is good to space the doses up to six weeks away.
However, CDC spokeswoman Kate Grusich told the Times that Walgreens’ scheduling decision still confused customers and brought federal health officials to attention.
According to Walgreens, it has so far administered more than 8 million doses of coronavirus vaccine and is expected to deliver between 26 and 34 million doses by the end of August.