DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF)- CVS Health said it has administered the first round of COVID-19 vaccine doses to nearly 8,000 skilled nursing facilities across the country. Administration of second doses is well underway and expected to be complete within four weeks. In Texas, CVS is responsible for vaccinations at about 2,000 long-term care locations with a total population of 275,000 residents.
“We’ve administered nearly two million shots to one of our most vulnerable populations through onsite and, in many cases, room-to-room visits,” said Karen S. Lynch, currently Executive Vice President, CVS Health and President, Aetna, who will become the company’s next President and CEO on February 1. “Our dedicated health care professionals are reaching long-term care residents and staff as soon as possible based on activation dates selected by the states, while navigating the challenges of a complex rollout.”
This was part of a Federal and State program that would send staff and vaccines from partnering pharmacies to administer the shots those these facilities at no cost.
Now with the first dose completed for the vulnerable population, Stephen Love President and CEO of the DFW Hospital Council says he’s hopeful this means vaccine availability for all Texans should be coming soon.
“I do hope we get the Janssen vaccine soon, the single dose vaccine by Johnson and Johnson, that would be a tremendous help,” said Love.
Love said it will take a lot of education and partnerships to make sure every resident is on board with the vaccine and we can end this.
“Even though we are thankful for the vaccine and we want to get it out as soon as possible…In the meantime, we still need to where a mask, social distance, wash your hands…we still have a long way to go to achieve herd immunity,” he said.
He said he hopes more mega centers will open up to accommodate and administer the vaccines once more doses arrive.
