Walgreens Announces the Successful Administration of 5 Million COVID-19 Vaccinations

In a recent statement, Walgreens announced that it has administered approximately 5 million COVID-19 vaccinations at long-term care (LTC) facilities, in its stores, and through its vaccination clinics. Additionally, following the completion of more than 60,000 scheduled clinics at LTC facilities, the company noted that it has successfully vaccinated the majority of residents and staff who chose to be vaccinated by Walgreens.

“We’re now seeing steep declines in new COVID-19 cases and related deaths in nursing homes and assisted living facilities, demonstrating the remarkable impact these vaccines can have in this pandemic,” said John Standley, president, Walgreens, in a press release. “Walgreens is incredibly proud of our more than 40,000 immunizers who ensured the successful administration of vaccinations in these facilities. With their deep experience, as well as increasing vaccine supply, we are making significant strides in accelerating access to COVID-19 vaccines.”

As a part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, Walgreens is currently set to receive approximately 1 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer this week. The locations that can expect to access these vaccines due to distribution from the federal program have been expanded over the past 2 weeks by the CDC to include 16 additional states, bringing the total to 43 states and jurisdictions that Walgreens will be vaccinating.

Walgreens noted that with this expansion, the following states and jurisdictions will have access to the 3 authorized COVID-19 vaccines as a result of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Chicago, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, New York City, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, US Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

For individuals who are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines to schedule an appointment at a Walgreens, they can visit Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine or call 800-WALGREENS, with scheduling options available in both English and Spanish.

Although COVID-19 vaccination eligibility varies by state, the federal administration, in partnership with the CDC, recently announced that teachers and childcare workers should be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccinations and should receive their first shot by the end of March.

In light of this announcement, school staff and childcare workers are now eligible to schedule their vaccinations at Walgreens stores. Additionally, the company is working with state and local jurisdictions, as well as school districts, in order to conduct dedicated clinics for school staff and childcare workers.

Walgreens also explained that it continues to work on supporting equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines as part of the company’s Vaccine Equity Initiative. In order to address vaccine equity, the company has worked to create new vaccine access solutions, facilitate educational programs that address vaccine hesitancy, and foster partnerships that best meet the needs of each community in order to support vaccination uptake.

In light of these efforts to support vaccine equity, approximately half of the federal vaccine allocation is being distributed to Walgreens stores in medically underserved areas and areas with a high social vulnerability index score. Walgreens pharmacists will also be proactively calling patients in these areas to ensure residents get vaccination appointments.

Additionally, in order to address the vaccination access barrier that transportation may pose for some patients, Walgreens is partnering with Uber to help transport patients to vaccination sites and is expanding off-site clinics and educational programs with community partners in Chicago, Atlanta, and New York.

Walgreens announced that it has also expanded the number of stores that are offering drive-thru COVID-19 testing to include an additional 1500 Walgreens stores, bringing the total stores offering diagnostic COVID-19 tests to 5000, with more than half of these located in socially vulnerable areas. Due to this expansion of testing capacity, the company explained that it is now able to administer approximately 3 million tests a month, which is 3 times the testing capacity offered at its stores in April 2020.

REFERENCE

Walgreens Administers 5 Million COVID Vaccinations and Nears Completion of Long-Term Care Facility Program. Deerfield, IL: Walgreens; March 9, 2021. [email] Accessed March 9, 2021.