Pharmacy groups call for expanding network of vaccine providers
By HME News Staff
Updated 10:22 AM CST, Wed January 27, 2021
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The National Community Pharmacists Association and the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists have called on the country’s state governors to enlist independent long-term care pharmacies in their COVID-19 vaccination efforts by leveraging the new Federal Transfer Program, which allocates vaccines to independent pharmacies. In a joint letter to the National Governors Association, the two groups point to the bumpy rollout of vaccinations provided by CVS and Walgreens to long-term care facilities. “By requesting a transfer, states will be able to deploy all existing local and LTC pharmacies that have signed up with the CDC, which is critical to ensuring vaccine access in rural, isolated and smaller skilled-nursing facilities (SNF), assisted-living facilities (ALF), and congregate care environments,” states the letter. “Currently, the large national pharmacy chains have vaccinated a critical mass of larger SNFs, but there are still thousands of federally governed SNFs and close to 37,800 state run ALFs that require inoculations.”
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