CVS Will Be Vaccinating Long-Term Care Residents in Minnesota
CVS announced that they will start administering the COVID-19 vaccine to the state's long-term care residents.
The vaccinations will start this week in a handful of states and on December 28th in Minnesota and the majority of other states. CVS plans to vaccinate up to four million long-term care residents and staff at around 40,000 long-term care facilities throughout the country.
According to the Star Tribune, around 63,000 Minnesotans at nearly 600 facilities will get the vaccine after Christmas and the vaccine will be given to residents at the facilities. CVS says that "teams will make three visits to each long-term care facility to ensure residents and staff receive their initial shot and critical booster."
Both CVS and Walgreens plan to roll out the vaccine to the public next year, CVS says that it is planning for 20-25 million vaccinations per month once their program gets underway, "subject to product availability and prioritization of populations, which will be determined by states, CVS says.
"Today's rollout is the culmination of months of internal planning and demonstrates how the private sector can use its expertise to help solve some of our most critical challenges," said Larry J. Merlo, President and Chief Executive Officer, CVS Health.
CVS and Walgreens are adding many new employees nationwide to handle their vaccination programs, according to the Star Tribune, CVS plans on hiring about 10,000 pharmacy technicians and workers and Walgreens says they'll add about 25,000.