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CVS, Walgreens begin administering first vaccines in nursing homes

CVS and Walgreens began administering the first doses of Covid-19 vaccines across long-term care facilities last week. But many questions still remain about how it will be administered to the general public.

 

CVS Health workers vaccinate a resident at the Reservoir long-term care facility on Friday, Dec. 18, in Hartford, Conn. Photo credit: Scott Eisen, CVS Health via AP Images

At the start of a long and dark pandemic winter, two FDA authorized vaccines for Covid-19 are bringing a much-needed glimmer of hope. The good news is the vaccines, developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, appear to be effective and safe.

But getting them to people may prove to be an enormous logistical challenge, with states left to decide how vaccines should be prioritized. Both vaccines must be kept in cold storage, though Pfizer-BioNTech’s requires much colder temperatures of minus 70 degrees Celsius, and both vaccines require two doses.

CVS Health and Walgreens began distributing the first doses to nursing homes in 12 states last week, and 36 more this week. Both pharmacy chains were tapped by Operation Warp Speed to lead the rollout in long-term care facilities.

Roughly 40,000 facilities have signed up to receive vaccines from CVS, and 35,000 from Walgreens, the companies said. But there are still several questions that need to be answered, such as how residents will consent to receiving a new vaccine, and how they will keep track of how many doses each person has received.

Spokespeople for both CVS and Walgreens said long-term care facilities are responsible for getting consent from their residents and patients. For example, people with dementia can have their responsible party give consent verbally or over email. Walgreens said it also provides flexible consent forms to facility staff, residents or family members.

Both companies plan to make three visits to each facility, to ensure residents receive their initial vaccine and their booster. Each of these visits will be 21 to 28 days apart, as most vaccines require that amount of time between doses, a Walgreens spokesperson said.

The companies plan to wrap up the vaccination effort at long-term care facilities within 12 weeks.

All of this is a lead-up to when the vaccine becomes available to the general public, which is expected to take place in the early months of 2021. What that process looks like may vary from state to state.

CVS said it plans to make the vaccines available on an appointment only basis, depending on the availability of the vaccine and how populations are prioritized in each state. Once patients schedule their initial appointment, they’ll be prompted to schedule a second appointment for their booster dose. After their first dose, patients will get a mandated vaccine card.

“The eventual availability of Covid-19 vaccines in communities across the country will bring us one step closer to overcoming the most significant health challenge of our lifetime,” Karen Lynch, CVS Health’s incoming CEO and current Aetna president, said in a news release.

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