A Rite Aid store is shown in downtown Los Angeles, California, USA on October 16, 2019. Image taken on October 16, 2019.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Rite Aid CEO Heyward Donigan said he hopes retailers will soon have a bigger and earlier role in launching the Covid-19 vaccine as states and counties are under pressure to pick up the pace.
Vaccines are distributed in phases, with priority given to the most at-risk Americans, such as health care workers and residential residents.
Rite Aid is expected to be part of the second phase, when features are available to a wider audience, those who do not meet the requirements for the first phase due to their age, occupation, or lack of underlying medical conditions. , said Donigan, who spoke to the virtual JP. Morgan Healthcare Conference Monday. The company is one of 19 pharmacies and grocery stores that have partnered with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to take photos in their stores.
“I think this is going to accelerate faster and faster than that,” he said.
So far, the pace of vaccines against Covid has been slower than expected. The United States has distributed about 22.1 million doses and nearly 6.7 million people have received the first shot, as of Friday, far from the country’s initial goal of immunizing at least 20 million people by the end of 2020.
Deployment has fractured, and those who have priority to receive the vaccine vary widely from state to state and county to county. In some parts of Florida, demand has far exceeded supply and caused long lines and frustration. However, at some New York State vaccination sites, eligible recipients have turned down shots or skipped their appointments and Covid vaccines have ended up in the trash.
Rite Aid has given more than 5,000 vaccines against Covid so far and has seen these challenges first hand, Donigan said.
“If you open a bottle and you only get one person who wants to take a dose that day, you have to figure out what to do with the rest of the vial,” he said. “It’s extremely difficult to figure out how to find the right people, the most vulnerable, at that time, that day without things getting lost.”
CVS Health and Walgreens, which also plan to manage shots in their stores, are participating in an earlier phase of the launch. In mid-December, companies began administering vaccines to staff and residents of thousands of nursing homes and assisted living facilities. They said they planned to finish the first round of shootings at long-term care centers before Jan. 25.
Covid vaccines could provide pharmacies with an economic boost and allow them to show the changes they have made to their businesses. Not only will they be charged for giving the shots, but companies could also benefit from more walking traffic to their stores, mostly because consumers limit trips to the store and fill larger baskets during the pandemic.
Jefferies updated the rating of CVS shares to buy Friday, saying its role in vaccination efforts could result in about $ 1 billion in incremental gross profit over the next 12 months.
Rite Aid has not yet predicted the impact of the vaccine, but COO Jim Peters said it will be taken into account in its forecasts for next year.