The Next Phases of COVID-19 Vaccinations at Walgreens Pharmacies

Pharmacy Times^® interviewed Rina Shah, PharmD, group vice president of pharmacy operations and services at Walgreens, on the rollout of phase 1b and c of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccinations at Walgreens pharmacies across the country.

Alana Hippensteele: So, with the announcement that Walgreens will complete its COVID-19 vaccine administration in skilled nursing facilities by January 25, what is the next step for COVID-19 vaccinations?

Rina Shah: Definitely. To clarify, it's the first dose clinic. The first clinics are completed. So, there's a 21-day timeframe of dose 1 and dose 2 for Pfizer, and it's 28 days for Moderna, so we'll be done with the first doses or the first clinics by the 25^th. So, we're going to continue on the long-term care facility program just to ensure that those are completed as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

In addition to that, we're partnering with states as we speak today so that we can help support the acceleration of the rollout of phase 1b and c, and eventually the mass vaccination. So, for phase 1b, that means at select Walgreens stores, the ability for us to administer vaccines to those that are 75 and up and/or essential workers, all in accordance to what the state is asking us to do. However, those are varied state by state, so we're working with the states to understand exactly how we can help support that.