Top execs from national retail pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens say their infrastructure is ready and well-tested for the challenges ahead in distributing the COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available.
The two companies are among high-profile private companies that have partnered with Operation Warp Speed to get individuals immunized against the novel coronavirus as quickly as possible. They were speaking at the White House "Vaccine Summit" Tuesday, which was billed by senior administration officials as an event meant to instill trust in the American public in the future vaccines' safety and efficacy.
Both CVS and Walgreens have contracts to start that work by setting up mobile vaccine clinics in long-term care facilities, including nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, to reach the most vulnerable elderly patients.
Both also emphasized their infrastructure and experience in distributing the flu vaccine at scale on an annual basis—including using on-site clinics at long-term care facilities—as well as their administration this year of COVID-19 tests.
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"Immunizations are core to what we do," said Rick Gates, senior vice president of pharmacy and healthcare at Walgreens, during the summit. "From a framework perspective, I think pharmacies are well-placed to really step forward and help in this process."
Walgreens has contracts to distribute the vaccine in more than 30,000 long-term care facilities. CVS has contracts with more than 44,000 long-term care facilities. Both said they have already scheduled the vaccine distribution in those facilities, making sure to schedule times to administer the two doses required for the vaccine developed by Pfizer as well as Moderna.
"CVS has a lot of experience working in the long-term care space," said Jonathan Roberts, chief operating officer of CVS Health. That includes having 9,000 pharmacists, nurses and technicians ready to hit the road to administer vaccines in those facilities. They will also be leveraging their existing technology platform, which CVS already uses to coordinate, track and report to both states and the federal government about all the vaccine activity that takes place.
"Then we have the capability to safely transport the vaccines when we receive them to these facilities, maintain them at the proper temperature control per the manufacturer's requirements," Roberts said. "CVS is ready and we're ready to take care of this more vulnerable part of our population."