On March 2nd President Biden announced a directive that all states prioritize school staff (teachers, paraprofessionals and school related personnel including bus drivers) and childcare workers for COVID-19 vaccination and is challenging states to get teachers, school staff and workers in childcare programs their first shot by the end of March.  This is a critical piece of the equation to reopening our school buildings for in-person learning. We expect more information to be released about the specifics next week.

To help states do this, the federal pharmacy program will prioritize vaccinating all school staff and childcare workers during the month of March. Teachers and staff in pre-K-12 schools and childcare programs will be able to sign up for an appointment at over 9,000 pharmacy locations participating in the program nationwide. Individuals who are interested in getting vaccinated at their local pharmacy should check the pharmacy’s website or visit VaccineFinder.org to find out if they are eligible and if vaccine is available.

Most pharmacy partners are using online scheduling systems to schedule vaccination visits for those eligible based on their limited available vaccine supply.

CDC has created a web page that lists the pharmacy partners currently participating in the program in each state.
  • Federal Retail Pharmacy Program Partners
  • Walgreens (including Duane Reade)
  • CVS Pharmacy, Inc. (including Long’s)
  • Walmart, Inc. (including Sam’s Club)
  • Rite Aid Corp.
  • The Kroger Co. (including Kroger, Harris Teeter, Fred Meyer, Fry’s, Ralphs, King Soopers, Smiths, City Market, Dillons,Mariano’s, Pick-n-Save, Copps, Metro Market)
  • Publix Super Markets, Inc.
  • Costco Wholesale Corp.
  • Albertsons Companies, Inc. (including Osco, Jewel-Osco, Albertsons, Albertsons Market, Safeway, Tom Thumb, Star Market, Shaw’s, Haggen, Acme, Randalls, Carrs, Market Street, United, Vons, Pavilions, Amigos, Lucky’s, Pak n Save, Sav-On)
  • Hy-Vee, Inc.
  • Meijer Inc.
  • H-E-B, LP
  • Retail Business Services, LLC (including Food Lion, Giant Food, The Giant Company, Hannaford Bros Co, Stop & Shop)
  • Southeastern Grocers
  • Topco Associates, LLC (including Acme Fresh Markets, Associated Food Stores, Bashas, Big-Y Pharmacy and Wellness Center, Brookshire’s Pharmacy, Super One Pharmacy, FRESH by Brookshire’s Pharmacy, Coborn’s Pharmacy, Cash Wise Pharmacy, MarketPlace Pharmacy, Giant Eagle, Hartig Drug Company, King Kullen, Food City Pharmacy, Ingles Pharmacy, Raley’s, Bel Air, Nob Hill Pharmacies, Save Mart Pharmacies, Lucky Pharmacies, SpartanNash, Price Chopper, Market 32, Tops Friendly Markets, ShopRite, Wegmans, Weis Markets, Inc.)
  • CPESN USA, LLC
  • GeriMed (long-term care and retail pharmacies)
  • Good Neighbor Pharmacy and AmerisourceBergen Drug Corporation’s pharmacy services administrative organization (PSAO), Elevate Provider
  • Health Mart Pharmacies
  • Innovatix (long-term care pharmacies)
  • LeaderNET and Medicine Shoppe, Cardinal Health’s PSAOs
  • Managed Health Care Associates (retail and long-term care pharmacies)
The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination is a collaboration between the federal government, states and territories, and 21 national pharmacy partners and independent pharmacy networks to increase access to COVID-19 vaccination across the United States. This program is one component of the Federal government’s strategy to expand access to vaccines for the American public.

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.

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Local 1211 is a 1000+ member teachers' union consisting of teachers, teachers' assistants, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel. Local 1211 is a member of the Illinois Federation of Teachers. The IFT supports – but does not govern – local unions and their members. The IFT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the AFL-CIO.
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