Coronavirus Vaccinations Begin At Arizona Nursing Homes

ARIZONA — Some of Arizona's most vulnerable will be given a dose of hope starting Monday.

CVS Health and Walgreens have partnered with the federal government to begin vaccinating nursing home residents across the U.S. and in Arizona.

A news release from CVS said that the effort included over 900 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, enabling the company to vaccinate more than 163,000 patients in the state. Information from Walgreens was not readily available. Facilities were asked to choose between CVS and Walgreens as their vaccine provider.

"Our army of health care professionals — pharmacists, nurses and licensed pharmacy technicians — is very familiar with this patient population," according to a statement from CVS spokesperson Monica Prinzing. "This expertise, along with our national scale and local presence which we have used to administer flu vaccinations and to mobilize COVID-19 testing solutions in communities across the country, will be applied to this national effort to safely and efficiently distribute COVID-19 vaccines."

CVS Pharmacy teams will make three visits to each long-term care facility to ensure residents and staff receive their initial shot and critical booster. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses, the second of which should be received 21 or 28 days after the first. CVS expects to complete its nursing home vaccination effort in approximately 12 weeks.

The two pharmacy giants will also provide vaccines to the general public in its retail locations beginning in 2021. More information will be available when the time comes, according to CVS.

Arizona, like many states, has given nursing homes a priority spot in its vaccination plan. The age of residents and the close quarters they often live in make facilities a target for the virus.

“Vaccinating one of our most vulnerable populations is the latest milestone in our multifaceted pandemic response, which includes testing more than 10 million people for the virus since March,” Karen S. Lynch, currently Executive Vice President for CVS Health, said. “The eventual availability of COVID-19 vaccines in communities across the country will bring us one step closer to overcoming the most significant health challenge of our lifetime.”

As the pandemic stretches into its 10th month, Arizona reported 10,086 new coronavirus cases and 42 additional deaths Monday.