States Shift COVID Vaccine from Long-Term Care to General Public

February 5, 2021

(Medscape) – Some states have started taking COVID-19 vaccine from allocations meant for long-term care facilities and offering it to the general public in order to more quickly vaccinate more residents, according to state health officials. The federal Pharmacy Partnership for Long Term Care — which contracted with CVS, Walgreens, and Managed Health Associates to vaccinate nursing home residents and staff — based its allocation of vaccine doses on the number of beds, not the actual census, which resulted in an “overallocation,” said Michael Fraser, CEO, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), in a call with reporters on Thursday.