HHS Partners with Chain and Independent Community Pharmacies to Increase Access to Future COVID-19 Vaccines
HHS announced its partnerships with approximately 60 percent of pharmacies throughout the United States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands as part of the federal pharmacy COVID-19 vaccine program. HHS conveyed it will coordinate with the participating pharmacies to provide access to COVID-19 vaccines. Vaccine will be administered at partners’ pharmacy locations at no cost to patients. Pharmacies that do not participate in the federal allocation program are encouraged to coordinate with their jurisdiction’s health department to become COVID-19 vaccine providers.Currently, there are no COVID-19 vaccines that have been authorized or approved by the FDA. However, this pharmacy partnership is being established in anticipation that one or more COVID-19 vaccines will be authorized or approved and recommended for use in the United States before the end of 2020.