Pharmacies could soon dispense 100 MILLION doses of coronavirus vaccine each month

Pharmacies across the U.S. may be able to dispense up to 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine each month later this year, under a federal program to ramp up vaccines.

Starting Feb. 11, Biden’s administration will begin shipping stores directly to major outlets like CVS Health. Walgreens Co, Walmart Inc, Rite Aid Co and Costco Wholesale, as well as a supermarket.

Around 6,500 sales nationwide will receive a million doses in total, with plans to reach 40,000 pharmacy locations nationwide

Drug stores have become the mainstay of flu vaccines and shingle vaccines, and the industry is capable of vaccinating tens of millions of people every month.

But some public health experts say suspects, especially large chains, have the potential to manage as many as 3.3 million views per day as soon as the supply becomes available, according to CNN.

It comes as the White House revealed on Friday that the Pentagon will deploy 1,000 troops to help Americans vaccinate against COVID-19.

‘Based on conservative assumptions, there is potential to meet the demand for 100 million vaccine doses in one month when that level of vaccine supply is available,’ said Steven Anderson, president and CEO of the National Association of Chain Drug Products, to reporters on a phone call last month.

In the first phase, vaccines were being developed and selected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This is based on ‘the ability to reach some of the most at-risk populations for severe disease from Covid-19, including socially vulnerable communities,’ said Jeff Zients, co. the president’s COVID-19 action group organizer, earlier in the week.

All pharmacies follow federal and state guidelines and vaccinate only those eligible under the order under state authority.

CVS plans to start offering vaccines from doses reaching the first day, February 11th

The pharmacy plans to reach 250,000 doses at 330 stores across 11 states including California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

Meanwhile, Walgreens said it will begin administering doses the day after shipments arrive, Feb. 12, across 15 states, including Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia, and Puerto Rico.

While not all pharmacies in the states mentioned will have the vaccine, more doses will be available as the program expands.

Walmart offers the vaccines at its store in states such as Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Dakota and South, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Louisiana and Wyoming.

Last month, Walmart said ‘when supply and distribution allow’ it will be able to administer between 10 and 13 million doses per month over 5,000 places.

CVS has stated that, over its 10,000 lots, it will be able to manage between 20 million and 25 million views per month across its nearly 10,000 stores.

According to a model by the National Association of Drug Supply Chains, it recommends that when the program expands to 40,000 referrals, they will be able to vaccinate 3.3 million daily, CNN reports.

The group says this means seven per hour or between 99 million and 102.8 million vaccines per day.

The model does not include independent admission, although the National Association of Community Pharmacists believes that if vaccines were in the 17,000 places, they would be able to administer 1.28 million daily, according to CNN .

To help achieve this goal, CVS expects to have 90,000 employees, including pharmacists, licensed pharmacy technicians and nurses, administering vaccines.

And Walmart is currently offering employees a bonus for nominating qualified candidates for vaccine administration.

To date, the federal government has dispensed more than 57 million vaccines with 27 receiving at least one dose and more than 6.9 million at least two doses.

The two currently approved vaccines, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, require dedicated cold storage.

And, since the release began in December, chains like CVS and Walgreens have become familiar with the specific handling requirements.

Currently, the Food and Drug Administration is measuring approval for a vaccine from Johnson & Johnson, a one – shot regimen that requires just routine cooling.

The world at large is in a race with the virus to vaccinate so many people. Concerned mutations have been identified in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil.

The RA variant spreads more easily and carries a higher likelihood of fatal infection. The South African variant could slightly reduce the effectiveness of vaccines. All three mutations were identified in the U.S. with at least 482 cases.

The vaccine is free to Americans, thanks to legislation passed by Congress.

More than 60 per cent of doses have been administered so far, a significant improvement from just a few weeks ago.

Even with the massive snowstorm that hit the Northeast this week and closed several vaccine sites, Zients said ‘all vaccines have been made available by the states according to the schedule. ‘

However, he acknowledged that some vaccination centers had to be closed due to the weather.