CVS is planning to begin administering COVID-19 vaccines in nursing homes beginning on Dec. 21, a top executive told Reuters.
On Thursday night, a Food and Drug Administration panel voted in favor of awarding emergency approval to the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, likely paving the way for it to secure such an approval from the agency in short order.
Chris Cox, senior vice president at CVS Health, told Reuters that the healthcare giant expects to receive its first shipments of the vaccine at the end of next week, but will hold off on beginning to administer the vaccine until Dec. 21 to comply with the regulatory agencies.
Federal officials want to ensure that companies administering vaccines to nursing homes have time to review all available documentation about the injections and are able to obtain waivers from residents and their families, Cox said.
RELATED: CVS Caremark chief: The biggest challenges in distributing a COVID-19 vaccine
The government plans to begin distributing the vaccine as soon as it gets the OK from the FDA, with hospital and frontline health workers likely to begin receiving them early next week, according to the article.
Cox told Reuters that some states are waiting instead to administer Moderna's vaccine, which is also expected to receive emergency FDA approval soon. The earliest a Moderna vaccine could be administered is Dec. 28, Cox said.
CVS has been planning for vaccine distribution from multiple angles as both a large pharmacy benefit manager and a massive retail pharmacy chain.