Pittsburgh-Area CVS To Begin Offering Coronavirus Vaccinations

NEW KENSINGTON, PA —CVS will now offer the COVID-19 vaccine at some Pennsylvania locations, the company announced Wednesday. In southwestern Pennsylvania, the New Kensington CVS will be the first of the chain's pharmacies to administer the vaccine.

The vaccines, offered through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, currently are available to
eligible populations at a handful of Pennsylvania pharmacy locations.

As of Wednesday, CVS stores in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania were added to the program. On Feb. 12, the company rolled out the program in 11 states, including New Jersey, Maryland and New York.

Appointments for the latest allocation of approximately 570,000 doses will start to become available for booking today, with shots beginning the next day, CVS said Wednesday.

Those eligible include people age 65 or over, health care personnel, people with high-risk conditions, and long-term care facility residents and staff.

As of Wednesday morning, just six CVS locations in Pennsylvania are participating, according to information from the company. In addition to New Kensington, those locations currently include Chambersburg, Enola, Reading, West Chester and York. However, all appointments are currently
booked.

A message on the company's website says: "At this time, all appointments in Pennsylvania are booked. We'll add more as they become available. Please check back later."

However, the website notes: "Availability can change quickly based on demand."

You can learn more about locations and available CVS appointments here.

The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 vaccines is a collaboration between the federal government, states and territories, and 21 national pharmacy partners and independent pharmacy networks.

According to the CDC, the program is being implemented incrementally based on the available vaccine supply, with select retail pharmacy locations providing COVID-19 vaccine to eligible individuals.

As vaccine availability increases over time, the program will expand to ultimately include all 40,000+ pharmacies, the CDC said.

CVS officials say so far, feedback on the vaccination process "has been incredibly positive."

"We're also making significant progress in reaching vulnerable communities, which will continue to be an essential part of our vaccination effort," said Karen S. Lynch, the company's president and chief executive officer.

Reporting by Kara Seymour/Patch.

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