One of the most discouraging aspects of the US’s slow vaccination is that too many doses will be wasted if people do not show up for appointments. Now that the vaccine is becoming increasingly available nationwide at local pharmacies, that will change. Three major pharmacy chains, Walgreens, CVS and Walmart, recently revealed that if they have extra doses, they will go to a select group of people. To see who is eligible for the remaining vaccine, read on and to find out when each Walgreens will offer COVID shots, you can vaccinate at any Walgreens on this date.
The available vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna should be stored between 36 and 46 degrees Fahrenheit and -13 and 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the vaccine thaws, it must be administered within six hours – otherwise it is no longer viable. To prevent valuable doses of vaccine from being thrown away, some pharmacies, such as CVS and Walgreens, compile waiting lists of employees who are eligible for vaccination, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Retailers try to navigate through each state’s admission requirements to determine who can earn a spot on the waiting list. While retail workers are currently eligible for the vaccine in some countries, it is not in others. Of course, some employees may be eligible differently due to their age or existing conditions. To see if the Walgreens in your state have the COVID vaccine, look at If you live in these countries, you can now be vaccinated at Walgreens.
Pharmacists at CVS also maintain a list of qualified patients in each state to determine who will receive remaining shots, senior vice president of CVS Health. Chris Cox told CNBC.
A Walmart spokesman said The Wall Street Journal they also plan to offer extra doses that run the risk of being thrown out to buyers who qualify according to state guidelines. To see if your local CVS offers the COVID vaccine, go to If you live in these states, you can now be vaccinated with CVS.
According to The Wall Street Journal” According to companies, in many cases the remaining doses can also go to workers who do not otherwise qualify, such as cashiers. ‘
While TJ Crawford, a spokesman for CVS, said Fortune that the surplus doses are ‘minimal’, he added: ‘In the rare cases where there are doses that lapse, we reach out to employees and customers who qualify. If we can not find someone from the population, we make sure that no dose is lost by vaccinating employees on the premises. ‘According to Fortune, Walmart also said that if at the end of the day there is no one available to use the excess vaccine, they will move on to lower priority groups.
This is in line with the guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which “provides support for optimizing the use of all COVID-19 vaccines.” The Agency’s Immunization Practices Advisory Committee states that websites “should extend the availability of vaccines to wider sections of the population when the vaccine supply in a certain place is at risk of not being used. Pharmacies should use these guidelines when planning to ensure that no dose is not wasted. ” And sign up for our daily newsletter for more up-to-date COVID news sent directly to your inbox.
Doctors do not recommend checking with your local vaccination center or pharmacy to see if they have an extra dose for you as this may lead to overcrowding. “I’m worried about the possibility of infection,” Leana Wen, MD, an emergency physician and professor of public health at George Washington University, tells PBS News. “How tragic would it be if you contracted coronavirus … while trying to get a dose of the vaccine?”
But with the goal of getting as many people vaccinated as possible and wasting as little of the vaccine as possible, sites like vaxstandby.com and hidrb.com have started waiting lists to notify the public where excess doses are available. Registered providers warn these sites with how much remaining vaccine they have left, how long it lasts and how many people want to notify them. Then VaxStandby sends a text message to people in the area who have signed up to receive vaccine alerts, based on the zip code, reports NBC Boston. And to see if your local Walmart is administering the COVID vaccine, check out If you live in these countries, you can now be vaccinated at Walmart.