Walgreens changes vaccination schedule after giving customers an extra week between doses

Walgreens begins planning doses of the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine three weeks apart, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), following customer complaints.

The U.S. pharmacy chain has so far sat four weeks apart, one week longer than recommended, because the extensive schedule has made it faster and easier to schedule appointments, The New York Times reported Monday.

From the end of the week, the vaccination system for Walgreens will start with three weeks apart, while maintaining the recommended period of four weeks for Moderna’s own vaccine.

Walgreens chief medical officer Kevin Ban said earlier that the distance between the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines during the same period was “the easiest way to set up the process based on our capabilities at the time.”

Other major pharmacy chains such as CVS and Rite Aid have complied with the CDC’s guidelines on vaccine spacing, according to the Times, which leaves Pfizer shots splashing about 20 to 23 days apart.

The newspaper reports that there is no evidence to suggest that an extra week reduces the effectiveness of the vaccine, and the CDC said it was okay to put the doses as much as six weeks apart.

However, CDC spokeswoman Kate Grusich told the Times that Walgreens’ scheduling decision still confused customers and brought it to the attention of federal health officials.

According to Walgreens, he has so far administered more than 8 million doses of coronavirus vaccine and expects them to administer between 26 and 34 million doses by the end of August.

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