The Biden administration will begin shipping COVID-19 vaccines directly to U.S. pharmacies next week, increasing vaccinations as new, potentially more serious variants appear, the White House said Tuesday.
Jeff Zients, coordinator of the president’s COVID-19 working group, said some 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 grow as drug manufacturers increase production, allowing more doses to be allocated, and the program is different from what pharmacies use to vaccinate residents of residences.
Drugstores have become a key pillar for flu and shingles vaccines, and the industry is able to vaccinate tens of millions of people every month.
This will provide more places for people to get vaccinated in their communities, ”Zients told reporters, stressing that due to supply constraints, initial availability will be limited.
Zients also announced a five percent increase in doses the government sends to states, territories and some major metropolitan areas.
These will now add up to 10.5 million doses in all jurisdictions, up from the 10 million announced last week.
On February 11, the Biden administration will begin shipping one million coronavirus vaccines to 6,500 pharmacies across the country. In the photo: Pharmacist John Forbes gives the Modern GOVID-19 vaccine to Meghan Bohlander, physician’s assistant, at Medicap Pharmacy in Urbandale, Iowa, January 2021
The White House announced a 5% increase in doses delivered 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 the coronavirus vaccine and more than 6 million at least two doses
To date, the federal government has sent more than 52 million vaccines with 46 receiving at least one dose and more than six million at least two doses.
One priority will be to get the vaccine to minority communities that have suffered a disproportionately high number of diseases and deaths from the virus, Zeints said.
The association with pharmacies was originally announced by the Trump administration last November, although no vaccine had been approved at the time.
CVS plans to start offering vaccines from doses that arrive on the first day, February 11th
The pharmacy expects 250,000 doses to reach 330 stores in 11 states such as California and New York, Politico reported.
Meanwhile, Walgreens said it will begin administering doses the day after shipments arrive, Feb. 12.
“Finally, as we can increase supply, up to 40,000 pharmacies across the country could provide vaccines against Covid-19,” Zients said.
The million doses that will be sent to pharmacies will exceed the 10.5 million doses that will be allocated to states per week.
The White House also took steps to help states pay for their efforts to respond to the pandemic.
Zients said the federal government will make between $ 3 billion and $ 5 billion available to states to retroactively cover certain eligible costs for reimbursement through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
These can range from protective equipment for health workers, to the deployment of their national guards, to the creation of community food programs. Last January’s state expenses can now be reimbursed.
But Zients said states need much more financial help from Washington, noting that Biden’s American Rescue Plan legislation calls for $ 350 billion from states. The counteroffer that a group of Republican senators advanced over the weekend omits that command line.
CDC data show that 52 million doses had been shipped so far
Jeff Zients, coordinator of the president’s COVID-19 working group, also said states will also receive between $ 3,000 and $ 5 billion to retroactively cover costs such as protective equipment for health care workers. Pictured: Zients addresses a press conference in December 2020
Some local jurisdictions have begun offering vaccination to pharmacies, but in most places this is not the case. Pharmacy door signs indicate that no vaccine is 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.
Soon, the Food and Drug Administration will weigh in on the approval of a Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a single-test regimen that only requires standard refrigeration.
The world at large is in a race with the virus to vaccinate as many people as possible. Worrying mutations have been identified in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.
Officials say the race to increase vaccinations is vital as variants from the UK, South Africa and Brazil spread across the county.
The UK variant spreads more easily and is more likely to suffer from deadly diseases. The South African variant may slightly reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. All three mutations have been identified in the U.S. with a total of at least 482 cases.
The vaccine is free for Americans, thanks to legislation passed by Congress.
To date, more than 60 percent of the distributed doses have been administered, a noticeable improvement over the past few weeks.
Even with the massive snowstorm that has hit the northeast, Zients said “the entire vaccine has been available to states on time.”
But he acknowledged that some vaccination centers have had to close temporarily due to the weather.