White House plans to send millions of vaccine doses to retail pharmacies

The White House next week will start shipping coronavirus vaccines directly to retail pharmacies alongside ongoing deliveries to states, increasing weekly supplies of shots nationwide to 11.5 million, a top aide said on Tuesday.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 response coordinator, Jeff Zients, said the program will launch on Feb. 11 and will make 1 million doses available to 6,500 stores. As supply grows, the program could expand to as many as 40,000 stores, he said.

Biden said last month that the COVID-19 vaccine rollout has been a “dismal failure” so far and vowed to boost the speed at which shots are given to Americans, with a focus on ensuring equitable access regardless of geography, race, or ethnicity.

The Trump administration in November announced it had partnered with 19 pharmacy chains and networks nationwide - including CVS Health Corp and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc - to begin distributing COVID-19 vaccines as they became available.

The federal government will distribute a million vaccine doses to the 6,500 stores next week, Zients said, adding that the amount will grow over time.