New Hampshire will partner with Walgreens to help distribute shots to residents in Phase 1B of the vaccine rollout, Gov. Chris Sununu said at a press conference Tuesday.
Starting next week, Walgreens will be given 3,400 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to help expedite the vaccination process. Sununu said the pharmacy will start calling residents who have the latest first dose appointments to reschedule to an earlier time — as of Tuesday, first-dose appointments have been booked through April. Qualifying residents will be able to receive their shots at 32 select pharmacy locations.
Vaccine rollout has been steadily progressing, though there have been a few notable technical glitches and difficulties registering for second appointments. So far, 172,000 doses have been administered.
The pharmacy chain, along with CVS, has played an important roll in distributing vaccines to residents at long-term care facilities throughout the state. However, they have been criticized by nursing home advocates for delayed rollouts and arduous paperwork.
Perry Plummer, who leads the state’s vaccine distribution, said working with the pharmacy chains has been difficult because there isn’t a direct line of communication. Because CVS and Walgreens are contracted with the federal government to distribute vaccines to nursing homes, information had to go through the CDC and then back to health officials in New Hampshire.
“There’s no question assisted-living facilities didn’t get ramped up as quickly as we would have hoped,” Plummer said. “There was some miscommunication and misunderstanding.”
Phase 1B includes people who are 65 and over, the medically vulnerable at significant risk, staff and residents of facilities for the disabled and corrections officers and staff. Eligible residents can still register for a vaccine appointment at vaccines.nh.gov.
More information about the COVID-19 outbreak and vaccine rollout can be found at concordmonitor.com/coronavirus.