FLORIDA — People in nursing homes who have been isolated from their loved ones will now have a chance to be reunited.
CVS Pharmacy just launched its COVID-19 vaccine program for long-term care facilities across the country.
This week, licensed pharmacy technicians will come out and vaccinate the most vulnerable residents inside nursing homes with the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
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“So this process can take a month to about two months before we finish and complete these 40,000 long-term care facilities across the country,” Ahmed Velez, regional director for CVS in south Florida and Puerto Rico, said.
Last week, CVS started its vaccinations in four states ahead of Monday’s rollout.
This week, the company is beginning vaccinations in 12 states including Florida.
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CVS Pharmacy told Action News Jax that it’ll be vaccinating about 3,300 assisted living care facilities in Florida. It’ll be able to reach over 358,000 patients.
“This is all federal funding. It’s absolutely free to all those individuals and if you have insurance obviously we bill the insurance but it’s 100% no cost to the patients in these long-term care facilities,” Velez said.
CVS Pharmacy said it hopes it’ll be able to begin vaccinating the public by March or April.
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“CVS will have that capability of administering as many as 20 to 25 million per month to nearly our 10,000 pharmacy locations,” Velez said.
Due to privacy issues, CVS would not disclose which assisted living facilities are going to be administering the vaccine.
Cox Media Group
