Walgreens, CVS Health start giving COVID-19 vaccines at nursing homes

Walgreens and CVS Health on Friday began the administration of COVID-19 vaccine to residents and staff at nursing homes and assisted living facilities. 

Pharmacists from the two companies are providing the vaccinations as part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Pharmacy Partnership for Long-term Care Program. Walgreens said its pharmacists are providing the vaccinations at facilities in Ohio, Connecticut and Florida, while CVS said it will provide them at facilities in Ohio and Connecticut. Both companies will expand to facilities in other states next week.

The COVID-19 vaccines will eventually be available at pharmacies nationwide, including CVS, Walgreens and Walmart.

In a release, Walgreens said its pharmacy team members will provide COVID-19 vaccinations in approximately 800 long-term care facilities across 12 states the week of Dec. 21, including many in rural and urban medically-underserved areas. The company will continue to expand vaccinations to nearly 3 million residents and staff at 35,000 long-term care facilities that have selected Walgreens as their vaccine provider as states finalize their distribution plans and receive vaccine allocations.

“Walgreens is very proud to be a part of this historic milestone to begin administering Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to our most vulnerable populations,” said John Standley, president, Walgreens. “With more than a decade of experience administering various vaccines, we have the deep expertise to support this unprecedented effort to allow our nation to emerge from this pandemic.”