Select Walgreens locations support underserved communities
This week marks the launch of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program which is a collaborative effort between the federal government and state health officials to provide free COVID-19 vaccinations at participating pharmacies. While these locations will initially have limited capacity to vaccinate, this program will play a critical role in accelerating local vaccination efforts in underserved communities.
“This partnership is another tool to support the great work that local public health is doing in our communities, said Gov. Tony Evers. “Just last week alone, we got over 200,000 shots in the arms of Wisconsinites, and I want to express my sincere gratitude to our vaccinators for this work. And to keep helping them in that work, we need to each do our part to stop the spread of COVID-19 by wearing a mask and staying home. It’s true that we’re getting more shots in arms, but the vaccine is still a scarce resource, and we have plenty of masks to go around, so mask up.”
Due to the limited amount of COVID-19 vaccine available nationwide, the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program will start small and expand as vaccine supply increases. Wisconsin will launch the program with 178 Walgreens locations across the state, with the majority of sites located in underserved areas. For the first week, the federal government will directly ship 17,800 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to the 178 Walgreens locations.
