(WEEK/WSIL) -- One of the nation's largest pharmacy chains is gearing up to administer COVID-19 vaccines.
In Illinois, CVS Health will begin its vaccination program on Dec. 28 with nearly 900 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities throughout the state that have selected CVS as their COVID-19 vaccination partner, according to its press release. The program has the potential for 150,000 patients in Illinois to have access to the vaccine.
The company cites it is already familiar with that specific patient population.
"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," the release read.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services selected CVS Health as one of the two providers to administer the vaccine.
"While we are beginning with long-term care facilities, we will eventually provide vaccines to the general public in our 10,000 CVS Pharmacy locations across the country in 2021 with more details to come," according to the release.
Nationally, the company plans to vaccinate up to 4 million residents and staff at more than 40,000 long-term care facilities through its program. It will begin its program this week in Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Vermont.
"The long-term care facility vaccination effort is a precursor to the eventual availability of COVID-19 vaccines at all CVS Pharmacy locations throughout the country subject to product availability and prioritization of populations, which will be determined by states," according to the release.
