Pharmacy group says it can meet Biden’s vaccine goals

WASHINGTON » A trade group representing chain pharmacies says its members can “easily” meet President-elect Joe Biden’s goal of administering 100 million coronavirus vaccines in the first 100 days of his administration. The National Association of Chain Drug Stores says “the existing retail pharmacy network — where 90% of Americans live within 5 miles of a store — can swiftly and efficiently accelerate the vaccination of priority populations.”

The group spoke a day after President Donald Trump’s administration expanded the number of Americans who can receive vaccines to include all seniors and younger people with certain health conditions. The drugstore group called for activating an arrangement known as the Federal Pharmacy Partnership Program, under which the Trump administration had planned to enlist pharmacies later in the vaccination campaign.

– The Associated Press

FEDERAL EXECUTION

U.S. carries out first female inmate execution since 1953

TERRE HAUTE, IND. » A Kansas woman was executed Wednesday for strangling an expectant mother in Missouri and cutting the baby from her womb, the first time in nearly seven decades that the U.S. government has put to death a female inmate.

Lisa Montgomery, 52, was pronounced dead at 1:31 a.m. after receiving a lethal injection at the federal prison complex in Terre Haute, Indiana. She was the 11th prisoner executed at the facility since July, when President Donald Trump, an ardent supporter of capital punishment, resumed federal executions following 17 years without one.

Her execution came after hours of legal wrangling before the Supreme Court cleared the way for the execution to move forward. Montgomery was the first of the final three federal inmates scheduled to die before next week’s inauguration of Presidentelect Joe Biden, who is expected to discontinue federal executions.

– The Associated Press