Walgreens Starts Offering Boosters to Pfizer Vaccine Recipients

(Bloomberg) -- Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. has started to give booster shots for Covid-19 at drug stores across the U.S., the day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidelines on who should get them, the company said in a statement Friday.

The CDC recommended boosters for people who received their second dose of the vaccine made by Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE at least six months ago and are 65 or older or live in a long-term care facility, and for those over 50 with an underlying medical condition. The agency also said that people between 18 and 49 with certain conditions may get a booster, as well as people whose work puts them at high risk of exposure to Covid, such a health-care workers.

At a White House Covid briefing on Friday, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said that it will be up to those seeking another shot to vouch for their qualifications, leaving open the possibility that some people who don’t fit into those categories could lie to get an extra shot. The boosters will be covered without any cost-sharing, the government said separately. 

Rina Shah, vice president for pharmacy operations at Walgreens, outlined how the company is approaching things in an interview Friday. The guidelines are fairly loose to prioritize encouraging people to get vaccinated, she said.

• Walgreens will use its online scheduler to screen for qualifications, including asking people which vaccine they received

• For those who got the Pfizer-BioNTech shots, they’ll be asked when they received their second dose

• People will be encouraged to bring their vaccination cards to their booster appointment but the cards won’t be required

• The scheduler will also ask about booking other shots, like the flu shot, when you book your appointment. National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins said at a Bloomberg Philanthropies event on Thursday that people can receive a flu shot and Covid booster on the same day

Separately, Walmart Inc. and CVS Health Corp. announced that their pharmacies have also begun offering booster shots for qualified individuals.

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