The state of California has joined a federal partnership with CVS and Walgreens to provide coronavirus vaccine doses from the pharmaceutical company Pfizer to residents and staff members in long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes and assisted living centers, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.
According to Newsom, CVS will provide vaccines to around 500 nursing homes while Walgreens will do so at roughly 350 nursing homes over the next three-to-four weeks.
"By leveraging CVS and Walgreens resources, we can effectively deploy vaccines to residents and staff at our long-term care facilities, which are at higher risk of COVID transmission — and do it at no cost to the state or local government," Newsom said in a statement.
Residents and staff members in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are among the first in the state to receive the vaccine, along with front-line health care workers, in-home health care workers, primary care clinic workers, laboratory workers, dental health clinic employees and pharmacy staff.
According to Newsom, the state's task force overseeing the vaccine distribution schedule is expected to approve the plan as soon as Wednesday.
People over 75, or 65 if they have underlying health conditions, as well as workers in education, child care, emergency services, food and agriculture, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, and the industrial, residential and commercial sectors are all expected to begin receiving the vaccine in January under the current schedule.
In addition, unhoused residents and people in the state's prison system will be among the next pool of people with access to the vaccine.
—Bay City News