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 The program is the latest effort to control a pandemic that has
killed more than 300,000 people in the country and is straining the
capacity of healthcare systems in some states.
The United States has two authorized vaccines against the virus, one
developed by Pfizer Inc and German partner BioNTech SE, which was
cleared for use on Dec. 11, and one by Moderna Inc that was approved
on Friday.
Some 2.9 million shots of the Pfizer vaccine were distributed last
week and mostly given to healthcare workers. The first Moderna
injections are expected to begin being administered on Monday. About
7.9 million doses of the two shots are being distributed nationwide
this week.
The U.S. government is urging states to prioritize those at greatest
risk from the virus because vaccine supplies remain limited. A top
U.S. official said on Saturday that the government may not meet its
original goal of inoculating 20 million Americans by the end of the
year, with some of those planned doses dragging into January.
Many states have put healthcare workers and nursing home residents
first in line for vaccinations, in keeping with recommendations from
the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Older people in nursing homes have accounted for a disproportionate
number of deaths in the pandemic.
Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc and CVS Health Corp are leading a
program, in partnership with the federal government, that aims to
vaccinate some 7 million people in more than 70,000 long term care
facilities.
The companies had already began dosing some residents with Pfizer's
vaccine last week but their full rollout begins Monday.
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 Walgreens said it will provide
vaccinations this week in about 800 facilities
in 12 states. CVS did not specify how many
facilities they would visit, but said they also
plan to begin administering doses in a dozen
states.
Some states have opted to wait for access to the
Moderna shot, which is easier to transport and
store, before vaccinating nursing home
residents, the companies said.
Moderna's shots are also seen as easier to distribute to
hard-to-reach rural areas. Pfizer's shot requires special handling
and must be kept at minus 70 degrees Celsius. Both have been shown
to be nearly 95% effective in preventing COVID-19.
Walgreens plans to administer the vaccine to about 3 million
residents and staff at 35,000 long term care facilities over the
coming weeks as more shots become available. CVS eventually plans to
vaccinate around 4 million residents and staff at over 40,000 long
term care facilities in the same timeframe.
On Sunday, outside advisors to the CDC recommended that 30 million
frontline essential workers should be the next group to receive
priority for vaccination, including first responders, teachers,
public transit staff and grocery store workers.
(Reporting by Carl O'Donnell; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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