CVS Health to hire 25,000 ahead of flu season, COVID-19 boosters

[September 20, 2021]  (Reuters) - CVS Health Corp said on Monday it would fill as many as 25,000 clinical and retail jobs ahead of the flu season and as the United States prepares to administer booster COVID-19 vaccine shots.

The company said most of the available jobs were for full-time, part-time, and temporary licensed pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and nurses, adding that it was also looking for employees to help manage its retail stores.

CVS recently raised minimum hourly wages for its staff as retailers across the United States scramble to retain and lure more people back to work amid a nationwide labor shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

CVS, rival Walgreens Boots Alliance and other pharmacies that plan to administer boosters are likely to see more traffic between November and January, putting them under increasing pressure to hire and retain employees.

CVS said on Monday the virtual hiring campaign on Sept. 24 would help it administer the extra shots, pending regulatory approval, as it continues to offer COVID-19 tests as well as vaccines to those who have not yet been immunized.

The Biden administration had planned to make booster shots widely available in the week of Sept. 20, but advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last week rejected broader approval of the shots, recommending their use in Americans 65 and older and those at high risk of severe illness.

CVS, which has administered more than 34 million COVID-19 vaccines and over 32 million tests, said in March last year it would hire 50,000 employees to assist patients and customers during the coronavirus outbreak. It hired 15,000 more people in the fourth quarter of 2020.

(Reporting by Amruta Khandekar; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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