Covid-19 Vaccines: Retailers Prepare to Administer Immunizations

The first shipments of the Covid-19 vaccine are currently making their way across the U.S. Now comes a logistics tango with partner retailers.

The first phase: Distribution. So far, it’s divided into two retail tracks:

• In-store: Pharmacies and grocers were approved to distribute free vaccines last month. Superstores recently got on board: Target and Walmart are also prepping their in-store pharmacies for staff and shopper vaccinations.
• On-site: Walgreens and CVS are lending their pharmacy staff to nursing homes. In an announcement Friday, Walgreens said it could vaccinate its first patients before Christmas.

The next challenge: Making sure all those syringes are administered, especially on retail employees. Store and fulfillment center staff have been susceptible to Covid-19 while working in close quarters.

• Administering the vaccine may eventually allow retailers to roll back capacity caps in stores and behind the scenes.
• But requiring a vaccine to return to work could open up legal and cultural hurdles from any wary employees.

A past solution? Inoculation incentives. Publix, for example, hands out $10 gift cards to anyone who gets a flu shot at its in-store pharmacies.