More than 1 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be made available to about 6,500 U.S. pharmacies starting Feb. 11, the White House said Tuesday.
Why it’s important: Local, national, and supermarket pharmacies have an existing customer base, user portals, and other established resources when it comes to mass flu and shingles vaccination protocols. The federal government hopes this will expand access and speed up the vaccination process.
Yes, but: Demand for vaccine in these new channels is expected to far exceed supply, COVID-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said Tuesday.
The state of play: One million doses is in addition to the 10.5 million doses planned for states and other jurisdictions.
- Finally, the federal government wants to reach 40,000 pharmacies to provide vaccines.
The big picture: The U.S. government on Jan. 12 began encouraging states to open vaccination requirements for those over 65 and those over 16 with certain medical conditions, or a third of the U.S. population.
What they say: “Millions of Americans turn to local pharmacies every day for medicines, flu shots, and more. And pharmacies are easily accessible to most communities with most Americans living less than five miles from a pharmacy, ”Zients said.
- “People should first make sure they meet their state’s eligibility requirements for vaccines and then check availability on the local pharmacy’s website. Equity is at the core of how disease are working with states to select pharmacy partners for this first phase. ” added.