Private Pharmacies at Fault for ‘Challenging’ COVID Vaccine Rollout: CDC Chief

Enlisting private companies to roll out this year’s COVID-19 booster may be at fault for making it harder to access the shot this year.

Reports have emerged from around the nation of Americans having trouble getting the most recent class of booster shots, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made available last month.

Many had trouble getting appointments, and some who did get an appointment were frequently and suddenly canceled on. Overall, only around 1% of Americans ended up getting their new booster shot last month, according to official data.

Mandy Cohen, M.D., MPH, said that the changes to how the shots are being rolled out this year is to blame. Previously, the vaccines were procured from Pfizer, Moderna, and other companies, and rolled out across the country based on the government’s guidance. 

Emergency COVID funds have run out, though, with the shots now available on the private market. This means that private pharmacies themselves are responsible for procuring the shots and making them available to communities across the country.

“I want to be upfront and say that it is going to be more challenging this year as the federal government is not in charge of the purchase and distribution,” Dr. Cohen said during an event promoting the shots in Massachusetts last week. “This means that there is not going to be the same intensity of access points that we’ve had in the past.”

Dr. Lara Jirmanus, an instructor at Harvard Medical School, reiterated Dr. Cohen’s thoughts. She went even further, saying that relying on private pharmacies such as CVS and Walgreens could instead lead to gaps in vaccination coverage.

“The CDC has relied on private pharmacies for its rollout, but studies have shown that there are fewer private pharmacies in urban areas and areas that serve people of color,” Dr. Jirmanus said. “When you rely on a private system to roll out vaccines, you are absolutely not getting to everybody.”

Dr. Cohen also said that there have been some technical hiccups related to insurance billing.

“This is the first time that we’re billing insurances, so of course there are going to be a couple of technology hiccups in the private sector that we worked really hard with our partners to make sure we ironed out,” she said.

While a rocky rollout is partly to blame for the low vaccine uptake so far, there is also little demand for them A KFF survey found that just 43% of Americans were likely to get the shot, as many do not consider the virus much of a threat anymore.

The CDC chief continues to endorse the shot, saying: “we want folks to make an appointment and get vaccinated.”