Dec 24, 2020
FILE - In this Dec. 17, 2020 file photo, prepared COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine syringes are seen at Edward Hospital in Naperville, Ill. The U.S. government is negotiating with Pfizer to acquire tens millions of additional vaccine doses in exchange for helping the pharmaceutical giant gain better access to manufacturing supplies.
AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File
Distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine has begun â but are there enough facilities to administer it?
A study released last week by the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy concludes that in many places across the country, there may not be.
In what is believed to be the first county-level analysis of the nationâs potential COVID-19 vaccine facilities â which include community pharmacies, federally qualified health centers, hospital outpatient departments and rural health clinics â researchers found that more than a third (35 percent) of U.S. counties have two or fewer of these facilities and nearly 1 in 10 counties have fewer than one facility per 10,000 residents.