Federal government to ship COVID vaccines directly to pharmacies this week Heidi Wigdahl
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As vaccinations ramp up, more doses are going to pharmacies.
This week, the first phase of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program launches. Starting Feb. 11, the federal government will ship COVID-19 vaccines directly to some pharmacies on top of allocations to states.
It will start with about 1 million doses per week that will go to 6,500 retail pharmacies across the country, eventually increasing to 40,000 drug stores. I d say a few weeks ago pharmacists were frustrated because they wanted to give the vaccine and we didn t have it yet, said Sarah Derr, executive director of the Minnesota Pharmacists Association.
States, Tribes, and territories will receive a 5 percent supply increase this week, and Americans will soon have easier access to vaccinations through local pharmacies
As the U.S. surpasses 26 million COVID-19 infections, President Biden took additional steps today to implement his comprehensive National Strategy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. These steps include increasing the vaccine supply to states, Tribes, and territories and increasing funding to jurisdictions to help turn vaccines into vaccinations. And, the President announced that starting next week, the first phase of the federal pharmacy program will launch and select pharmacies nationwide will start offering vaccinations for their communities.
Steve Griffin, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY Nearly 26,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines are sitting on shelves at federally contracted pharmacies throughout Utah as the state matched its deadliest day of the pandemic Thursday.
Another 30 lives have been claimed by COVID-19, three of them prior to Dec. 31, according to the Utah Department of Health, which updates the numbers daily. In all, 1,547 people in Utah have died from the disease.
The 30 new deaths ties the record for the most daily deaths that were reported on Dec. 17.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said, “Our highest priority is to protect those most vulnerable.”
He wants vaccines to get in the arms of people who need it most and are at highest risk of dying from a COVID-19 infection. During the governor’s first monthly PBS Utah news conference on Thursday, Cox said he will make sure every available dose gets used starting with the excess on pharmacy shelves.
We have administered just a fraction of the 25 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that were delivered to state and federal agencies since they were approved in December...