States, tribes, and territories will receive a 5 percent increase in supply this week, and Americans will soon have easier access to vaccinations through local pharmacies.
As the U.S. surpasses 26 million COVID-19 infections, President Biden today took additional steps to implement his comprehensive national strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. These steps include increasing the vaccine supply to states, tribes and territories and increasing funding to jurisdictions to help make vaccinations into vaccinations. And the president has announced that the first phase of the federal pharmacy program will be launched from next week and that certain pharmacies nationwide will begin offering vaccinations to their communities.
These new steps will help achieve the president’s goal of delivering 100 million shots within 100 days and expanding access to vaccines to more Americans in the coming weeks.
The president is taking the following steps today:
Extension of vaccine supply: Based on last week’s announcement, the Biden-Harris administration will begin increasing its total weekly vaccine supply to states, tribes and territories starting this week. This is an increase of 22% since the start of office on 20 January. The administration is committed to maintaining this as the minimum supply level for the next three weeks, and we will continue to work with manufacturers in their efforts to increase supply.
Beginning of the first phase of the Federal Retail Vaccine Vaccine Program for COVID-19: As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines, starting on February 11, those eligible for the vaccine will have the opportunity to be vaccinated at select pharmacies across the country. through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID- 19 Vaccination. This program is a public-private partnership with 21 national pharmacy partners and networks of independent pharmacies representing more than 40,000 pharmacy locations nationwide (listed below). It is an important part of the administration’s national strategy to expand the American public equitable access to vaccines.
As the first phase of this program launches, select retail pharmacies nationwide will receive limited vaccine provision to vaccinate priority groups free of charge. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has partnered with states to select initial pharmacist partners based on a number of factors, including their ability to reach some of the populations most at risk for serious COVID-19 diseases. Americans should visit their pharmacy website to determine if vaccine is available, as supply will be limited in the early stages. More information is available at cdc.gov/covid19.
Increasing remuneration to states: At the heart of the Biden-Harris administration’s COVID-19 national strategy is to ensure that states, tribes, territories and jurisdictions have the necessary resources to defeat the virus. Therefore, on his second day in office, President Biden ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to reimburse states in full for the costs of the National Guard Staff and emergency costs. President Biden announced today that the administration will go even further and compensate the countries retrospectively for the FEMA qualifying services – including masks, gloves, emergency operations, protection of risk populations and mobilization of the National Guard – dated back to the beginning. of the January 2020 pandemic. This compensation is estimated at $ 3-5 billion and is only a small part of the resources that states need to fight this pandemic – including for testing, genomic sequencing and massive vaccination centers. To fully support the states, tribes and territories in curbing the pandemic and vaccinating their people, President Biden is asking $ 350 billion from Congress into the US rescue plan.
Participating federal pharmacy partners (not all will be active in each state in the first phase)
Chain Pharmacy
• Walgreens (including Duane Reade)
• CVS Pharmacy, Inc. (including Long’s)
• Walmart, Inc. (including Sam’s Club)
• Rite Aid Corp.
• The Kroger Co. (including Kroger, Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, Frys, Ralphs, King Soopers, Smiths, City Market, Dillons, Mariano’s, Pick-n-Save, Copps, Metro Market)
• Publix Super Markets, Inc.
• Costco Wholesale Corp.
• Albertsons Companies, Inc. (including Osco, Jewel-Osco, Albertsons, Albertsons Market, Safeway, Tom Thumb, Star Market, Shaw’s, Haggen, Acme, Randalls, Carrs, Market Street, United, Vons, Pavilions, Amigos, Lucky’s, Pak n Save, Sav- On)
• Hy-Vee, Inc.
• Meijer Inc.
• HEB, LP
• Retail Business Services, LLC (including Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Company, Hannaford Bros. Co., Stop & Shop)
• Winn-Dixie Stores Inc. (including Winn-Dixie, Harveys, Fresco Y Mas)
Network Administrators
• Topco Associates, LLC (including Acme Fresh Markets, Associated Food Stores, Big-Y Pharmacy and Wellness Center, Brookshire’s Pharmacy, Super One Pharmacy, VERS by Brookshire’s Pharmacy, Coborn’s Pharmacy, Cash Wise Pharmacy, MarketPlace Pharmacy, Giant Eagle, Hartig Drug Company, King Kullen, Food City Pharmacy, Ingles Pharmacy, Raley’s, Bel Air, Nob Hill Pharmacies, Save Mart Pharmacies, Lucky Pharmacies, SpartanNash, Price Chopper, Market 32, Tops Friendly Markets, ShopRite, Wegmans, Weis Markets, Inc.)
• CPESN USA, LLC
• GeriMed (long-term care and retail pharmacies)
• Good Neighbor Pharmacy and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation’s Administrative Organization for Pharmacy Services (PSAO), Elevate Provider
• Health Mart Systems, Inc.
• Innovatix (pharmacies for long-term care)
• LeaderNET and Medicine Shoppe, PSAOs from Cardinal Health
• Managed healthcare partners (retail and long-term care pharmacies)
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