Meijer Pharmacies Gear Up For COVID-19 Vaccine

Pharmacies inside of Meijer stores are preparing for a comprehensive vaccine administration program as pharmaceutical manufacturers progress toward approved coronavirus vaccines, according to an announcement.

Meijer, the Midwestern grocery chain, is focusing on different programs to help it smoothly offer COVID-19 vaccines to a significant count of patients as it gears up for vaccines to eventually be distributed.

Those efforts encompass the build-out of specific technical offerings to help the merchant handle the volume of patients and the requirement for a follow-up to make sure that people get a second dose in a well-timed manner when needed.

The firm is also considering “physical spaces and locations for large-scale clinics,” like the seasonal flu shot clinics the merchant had at big stadiums and outdoor venues this autumn, according to the announcement.

Meijer also might be able to have COVID-19 clinics within its stores, as a number of them are over 200,000 square feet.

“Throughout this pandemic our stores and store teams have played an important role in supporting communities throughout the Midwest,” Meijer president and CEO Rick Keyes said in the announcement. “We are aggressively preparing for the next phase of this challenge, which will be to ensure our communities have the ability to quickly and safely obtain a COVID-19 vaccine once they become available.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently unveiled the U.S. government’s collaboration with many pharmacies like Meijer to maximize access to coronavirus vaccines for all Americans.

Grand Rapids, Michigan-based Meijer runs 256 supercenters and grocery locations across Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin.

The news comes as the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, outside of clinical trials, began being administered to nursing home staffers and healthcare workers on Monday (Dec. 14).

Pfizer Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said in a press release, “Collectively, we aim to vaccinate hundreds of millions of Americans by the end of 2021.”