CVS Administers 2 Million Vaccines at Nursing Facilities, but Says Staff Uptake Is Low

By Micah Maidenberg

CVS Health Corp. said it expects to complete administering first rounds of Covid-19 vaccines at more than 40,000 long-term care facilities it is working with by the middle of next month, but added that staffers at some facilities still aren't getting vaccinated.

The drugstore chain on Monday said it has delivered the first round of vaccines to about 8,000 skilled-nursing facilities around the U.S., accounting for close to 2 million shots.

The company and other drugstore operators have been working with the federal government to vaccinate residents and employees at nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other long-term care centers.

During the current vaccination push, vaccine allocations were "based on long-term care facility bed counts multiplied by two to account for staff, but at most facilities occupancy is far less than bed count and staff uptake remains low," CVS said.

The Woonsocket, R.I.-based company also said Monday it has the capacity to administer up to 25 million shots per month from its network of stores. It is already doing so in some states, including Indiana and New York, for some age groups.

"Criteria for vaccination at these locations are defined by the states, and supply comes from state allocations," CVS said.

Distribution of the Covid-19 vaccines has gotten off to a slow start in many parts of the country, with government officials in a number of places frustrated with a dearth of supply.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 25, 2021 08:05 ET (13:05 GMT)

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