SKOWHEGAN, Maine—Pat and John Thomas had been watching the information one evening final week after they noticed that Walmart on this central Maine city of 8,000 folks was taking appointments for the Covid-19 vaccination. That they had signed up for photographs at a hospital a few month in the past however nonetheless hadn’t heard again. Ms. Thomas, a 74-year-old retiree, jumped on the pc.
On Friday the couple acquired the Skowhegan Walmart’s first doses beneath a brand new federal authorities program that gives Covid-19 vaccines on to retail pharmacies throughout the nation.
“We’ll have the ability to see our household and buddies,” mentioned Ms. Thomas, a former assistant supervisor at a financial institution who has been married to her husband, a 78-year-old retired accountant, for 48 years. “It would simply be good to have the ability to go to and go someplace while you’re not afraid.”
Walmart Inc., the U.S.’s largest retailer and personal employer, is about to turn out to be one of many greatest distributors of the Covid-19 vaccine because the federal authorities enlists retail pharmacies to speed up what has been a uneven rollout.
Final week, 21 retail chains and pharmacy networks began administering these doses, together with CVS, Walgreens, Kroger and grocers in all 50 states. The federal government initially plans to offer round one million doses every week on to pharmacies. Round 200,000 of these are going to Walmart, a spokeswoman mentioned.
