CVS to start COVID-19 vaccinations at Texas nursing homes. Here’s the plan
CVS Health will begin to administer COVID-19 vaccines at more than 2,000 Texas nursing homes next week.
Officials expect to vaccinate more than 275,000 patients in 12 weeks beginning Dec. 28, according to a CVS Health press release.
More than 115,000 long-term facility residents and staff have died from the virus nationwide, accounting almost 40% of all COVID-19 deaths, according to the most COVID-19 Tracking Project Data. In Texas, long-term facility coronavirus deaths account for about 28% of the state’s total deaths.
Texas is expecting to receive 620,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine this week with more than 27,500 doses for Tarrant County health care providers. About 124,800 doses of the Pfizer vaccine have been allocated for the CVS vaccinations.
Pharmacists, nurses and licensed pharmacy technicians will visit the facilities and administer the vaccines, said John Fratamico, a district leader for CVS Health. The majority of residents and staff will be fully vaccinated three to four weeks after the first visit.
CVS Health officials did not provide a detailed list of participating nursing homes.
CVS Health started vaccinations at long-term care facilities on Monday across 12 states. About 4 million patients and staff at 40,000 facilities are expected to be vaccinated, according to the release.
Fratamico said this rollout is a precursor to the eventual widespread availability of the vaccine in 2021, which CVS will be a provider of. CVS will have the capacity to administer 20 to 25 million shots per month.
“Our company is ready to play a prominent role in administering these vaccines,” Fratamico said.
In Texas, the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine arrived on the week of Dec. 14. The first person in Tarrant County was vaccinated on Dec. 15.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 3:52 PM.
