Jan. 8, 2021 7:00 am ET
Federal and state officials are tapping regional and supermarket-based pharmacies to help speed up administration of Covid-19 vaccines amid a slower-than-planned rollout. Rite Aid Corp., Kroger Co. , Stop & Shop Supermarket LLC and other retailers are being asked to step in and provide inoculations to front-line workers and other vulnerable people. While the timeline is weeks earlier than planned, companies say they hope to test and troubleshoot protocols before distributing vaccines to the masses.
“We’re getting calls just because of the need,” said Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger’s health-care business. Officials from South Carolina and Georgia reached out to Kroger this week, and the company has been providing shots to health-care professionals in its stores and sending staff to long-term facilities in Alaska, West Virginia, Texas and Arkansas.
Executive Editor Kroger Health President Colleen Lindholz told The Wall Street Journal that the grocer is getting only a small number of doses, a fraction of what it has the ability to handle.
The Kroger Co. and other grocers want to accelerate their COVID-19 vaccination efforts, but they say they are hitting bureaucratic obstacles.
Kroger Health President Colleen Lindholz told The Wall Street Journal that the grocer is getting only a small number of doses, a fraction of what it has the ability to handle. The company told the Journal it has given about 4,500 doses of COVID-19 vaccinations. On average, Kroger provides roughly 200,000 doses of the flu vaccine each week during flu season.
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