CVS completes first round of vaccination at 8,000 U.S. nursing homes
A CVS pharmacy manager prepares a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine dose at the Soldiers’ Home in Holyoke, Massachusetts, December 29, 2020.
Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen | The Republican | Pool | via Reuters
CVS Health completed administering the first round of Covid-19 vaccination at roughly 8,000 U.S. nursing facilities, Reuters reports.
Administration of second doses was underway and expected to be completed within four weeks.
CVS Pharmacy has administered nearly 2 million doses to date but has a capacity for 20 million to 25 million shots a month, the company told Reuters, adding that its long-term care vaccination effort remains on track.
—Terri Cullen
U.S. doesn’t know how much Covid vaccine it has, says CDC chief
The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned on Sunday that the federal government doesn’t know how much coronavirus vaccine there is available to the country, adding yet another complication to the new administration’s efforts to mitigate the crisis, reports CNBC’s Amanda Macias.
“I can’t tell you how much vaccine we have, and if I can’t tell it to you then I can’t tell it to the governors and I can’t tell it to the state health officials,” CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told “Fox News Sunday.”
“If they don’t know how much vaccine they’re getting not just this week but next week and the week after they can’t plan. They can’t figure out how many sites to roll out, they can’t figure out how many vaccinators that they need, and they can’t figure out how many appointments to make for the public,” Walensky said.
President Joe Biden has set a goal for the country to administer 100 million vaccines in the president’s first 100 days.
—Fred Imbert
Merck ends its Covid vaccine program, citing inferior immune responses
A Merck sign in front of the company’s building in Summit, New Jersey.
Getty Images
Merck said it will end development of its two Covid-19 vaccines, Reuters reports.
In early trials, two of the company’s vaccines generated immune responses that were inferior to those seen in people who had recovered from Covid-19, as well as those reported for other Covid-19 vaccines, according to Reuters.
The drugmaker said it plans to focus its pandemic research on treatments, with initial efficacy data on an experimental oral antiviral expected by the end of March, the wire service said.
—Terri Cullen
Google to open vaccine sites at its U.S. offices
American multinational technology company Google logo seen at Googleplex, the corporate headquarters complex of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc.
Alex Tai | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images
Google will make some of its own facilities available to open new coronavirus vaccination sites in the U.S.
The company said it has partnered with health clinic chain One Medical and public health authorities to open vaccine sites in Los Angeles; San Francisco; Kirkland, Washington; and New York City. The tech giant also plans to open vaccine centers abroad.
Google also committed $100 million in advertising grants to the CDC Foundation, World Health Organization and nonprofits, as well as a $50 million investment aimed at helping public health agencies reach underserved communities with vaccine information.
Google said it will start including Covid-19 vaccination locations in Google Search and Maps in the coming weeks, starting with Arizona, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. The information will include details like whether an appointment or referral is required and if the location has a drive-thru.
—Ryan Browne