New program sends vaccines directly to US pharmacies
Trial run to include 6,500 locations beginning Feb. 11
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration will begin to test a program to provide coronavirus vaccines directly to pharmacies as officials seek to increase the pace of U.S. inoculations.
Biden’s team announced Tuesday that it will ship roughly 1 million doses per week to about 6,500 pharmacies nationwide as a trial run, beginning Feb. 11. It also will boost shipments to states by 5% to 10.5 million doses per week, up from the 10 million doses announced a week earlier.
“This pharmacy program will expand access in neighborhoods across the country, ” Jeff Zients, who serves as Biden’s COVID-19 response coordinator, said at a briefing. The shipments will increase as supply allows, he said, but “due to the current supply constraints, this will be limited when it begins next week.”
The pharmacies providing shots at stores include CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart and Costco, as well as networks of independent operators. Not all of the chains will immediately be taking part in every state, the White House said.
Zients also announced that the Biden administration would expand reimbursements to states for eligible expenses related to the pandemic, dating back to the start of 2020. Those expenses include masks, gloves and mobilization of National Guard troops, he said.
This is expected to cost $3 billion to $5 billion and doesn’t require congressional approval, Zients said, yet called on Congress to pass a new coronavirus aid package. States need resources for other parts of the coronavirus response, including testing, genomic sequencing and mass vaccination centers, he said.
“The faster Congress acts, the faster we can scale vaccination sites, mobile units, we can increase testing, we can increase emergency supplies,” he said.