Demand for coronavirus vaccines exceeds the supply of the federal retail pharmacy program in the United States. CNN finds that appointments are filling up fast.
Many pharmacies have told CNN this week that they can receive and administer many more doses of vaccine than they get so far. Albertsons Companies Inc., a U.S.-based grocery company based in Boise, Idaho, uses less than 10 percent of its capacity, according to Albertons spokesman Andrew Whelan.
“We have the capacity to deliver 150,000 doses every day and we can take on about 90% more supply to our network,” Whelan told CNN.
Hy-Vee, a Midwest supermarket chain, told CNN it would be more beneficial to administer more doses of vaccine to the public.
“Limited supply of the vaccine has been our biggest challenge,” said Christina Gayman, a spokeswoman for the company. “We would love to vaccinate everyone who asks, but supply is limited.”
Meanwhile, Meijer Inc. has been administering 66,000 doses since mid-January with an additional 30,000 forecast this week, company representative Frank J. Guglielmi told CNN. Most doses have been administered in Michigan, where Meijer is both a state and federal vaccine partner.
“As for support, we just need more vaccines,” Guglielmi said.
Walgreens, one of the first pharmacies to start administering Covid-19 vaccines in December through an independent partnership with long-term care centers, has administered more than 3 million vaccines as of Monday, with an allocation of 180,000 doses per week through the federal program. , company spokesman Kelli Teno told CNN.
“As we move toward wider populations, demand for vaccines has continued to exceed inventory,” Teno said. “We share the nation’s enthusiasm to vaccinate people as quickly as possible, but we need to be patient as the vaccine inventory continues to grow in the coming weeks and months and we will be able to vaccinate more communities.”