Americans will begin vaccinating vaccines starting Friday with the launch of a federal program that delivers doses directly to pharmacies and grocery stores.
The program starts small, with one million doses of vaccine being distributed to about 6,500 retail pharmacies. It will eventually expand to as many as 40,000 drugstores and groceries.
While some states have begun using a limited number of retail pharmacies to administer doses in recent weeks, the delivery of vaccines directly from the federal government to pharmacies is a new chapter in the U.S. vaccination campaign.
On Friday, Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid, among others, will begin administering vaccines to qualifying people based on state guidelines in limited locations across the country. Walgreens will have vaccinations available in 22 states and Puerto Rico; Rite Aid will initially receive direct federal awards in five states as well as Philadelphia and New York City; and CVS offers vaccinations in 18 states and Puerto Rico.
Those who are eligible to receive the doses can look at pharmacy websites for availability, and many of the first appointment slots have already been filled.
The federal program, which is intended not to reduce the doses allocated to states, begins a day after President Biden said his government had enough vaccine doses to vaccinate every American adult. (The news called for patience: Mr Biden said logistical barriers would likely mean that many Americans would not be vaccinated by the end of the summer.)
Mr. Biden on Thursday lamented the ‘giant’ logistical challenge facing his government. “It’s one thing to have the vaccine, it’s another thing to have vaccines,” he said during an appearance at the National Institutes of Health.
He also expressed open frustration over the previous government.
“While scientists have done their job of discovering vaccines in record time, my predecessor – I will be very blunt about it – did not do his job to prepare for the great challenge of vaccinating hundreds of millions,” he said. Biden said.
Health officials in the Trump administration have pushed back these proposals, pointing to hundreds of briefings presented by Department of Health and Human Services officials to the incoming health team, including the awarding and distribution of vaccines.
An agreement for 200 million additional vaccine doses announced on Thursday helps fulfill a promise that Mr. Biden made in January to increase supply to cover more of the population. He then said the government was entering into an agreement with two manufacturers, Pfizer and Moderna, as part of its larger promise that about 300 million Americans could receive a vaccine dose by the end of summer or early fall.
On Thursday, he said his administration had “now bought enough vaccine to vaccinate all Americans.”