Ben McCanna/Portland Press Herald via Getty ImagesOn Thursday retail pharmacies began administering COVID-19 vaccines to the eldery in New York.
"Based on conservative assumptions, pharmacies have the capacity to meet the demand for 100 million vaccine doses in one month when that level of the vaccine supply is available," Anderson said. Insider spoke with leaders at several top pharmacy retail chains about their strategies for vaccinating millions of Americans during the pandemic, and how they planned to do so without risking employee or customer safety. They spoke about leveraging technology and working closely with the government in order to distribute vaccinations.
So far, the bulk of vaccinations are still ahead of retail pharmacies. A number of retailers have helped implement elements of phase one in different jurisdictions, but the real challenge will be helping to inoculate the public at large.As Walmart leverages its stores to meet growing e-commerce demand, it's determined not to repeat the mistakes of rival Amazon with Whole Foods
"If you think about going to your CVS or Walgreens or any sort of other retail pharmacy store, space is very limited," Tran told Insider. "And we still want to make sure that social distancing is being practiced. There's crowd control in place. We still need to make sure that there is some sort of order once the vaccine is available."Unlike the flu shot, the COVID-19 vaccines available require two shots and the Pfizer version must be kept at a sub-zero temperature.
This will lock in the shift of primary care to retail. This is disrupting the traditional medical practice model, which is good, a disruption was needed.