Florida health agency issues notice to providers following FDA decision on mifepristone
The Food and Drug Administration recently made a regulatory change, paving the way for the sale of mifepristone at retail pharmacies โ and executives at Walgreens and CVS have both said they plan to carry it where itโs permitted.
No age restriction for teachers to get vaccinated at federal site in Jacksonville
โBecause of the federal directive, this site at Gateway will take teachers, school workers, early childhood, pre-K, of all ages at this site,โ said Kevin Guthrie, deputy director/SERT Chief. โSo, again, pre-K through K-12, Head Start programs, child care centers, day care centers, and so on -- that site, the federal site, will do that. It is a federal site, and they are complying with the federal directive.โAdCVS, Walmart and Publix are also vaccinating teachers of any age at pharmacies around the state, citing the federal guidelines. AdHundreds of people got shots at the new site in the parking lot of the Jacksonville mall on Norwood Avenue just off Interstate 95. AdThe Gateway Mall site is expected to be active for at least 60 days, although the satellite sites are expected to relocate every seven to 10 days.
Task force calls for COVID-19 vaccine sites to expand to minority communities
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ Church leaders in Florida are pushing for more than 80 churches in under-served areas to become vaccination clinics. Church leaders say the governor and Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry arenโt doing enough to reach underserved communities with the vaccine. They are now working to get the federal government to provide enough doses to open these sites. The leaders say itโs not political, itโs about saving lives. Church leaders announced nine Northeast Florida locations where they say coronavirus vaccination clinics should be placed.
Expansion of vaccines to other pharmacies first step to addressing underserved areas, local expert says
President Joe Bidenโs administration announced Tuesday that it will expand access to COVID-19 vaccines by distributing them to 6,500 retail pharmacies next week. Dr. Sunil Joshi, head of the Duval County Medical Society, said he thinks the plan of expanding vaccine distribution to pharmacies in underserved areas is an important step. RELATED: Task force calls for COVID-19 vaccine sites to expand to minority communitiesHe said the key in getting vaccines into underserved communities is trust. Walgreenโs website says the CDC is working with their pharmacies to optimize vaccine access in areas with a high social vulnerability index score. AdThe number of participating pharmacies and the allocation of vaccines is expected to accelerate as drug makers increase production.
COVID-19 vaccines coming soon to CVS, Walgreens, other pharmacies
CVS, Walgreens, Winn-Dixie, Walmart, Samโs Club and Costco are among the big-name companies will soon join Publix in getting COVID-19 vaccines out into senior citizens and others who qualify for a shot. Walgreenโs website says the CDC is working with their pharmacies to optimize vaccine access in areas with a high social vulnerability index score. The number of participating pharmacies and the allocation of vaccines is expected to grow as drug makers increase production. It is allowing state and local governments to receive additional federal dollars to cover previously incurred expenses relating to the pandemic. Participating are major chains like CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid, big box stores such as Walmart and Costco, and supermarket pharmacies.
Biden boosting vaccine allotments, financing for virus costs
Starting next week, 1 million doses will be distributed to some 6,500 pharmacies across the country, the White House said. The administration is also boosting by 500,000 the weekly allocation of vaccines sent directly to states and territories for the coming weeks, up to 10.5 million. It is allowing state and local governments to receive additional federal dollars to cover previously incurred expenses relating to the pandemic. The number of participating pharmacies and the allocation of vaccines are expected to accelerate as drug makers increase production. The Biden administration has sought to increase certainty to state governments on their upcoming allocations to streamline deliveries and prevent stockpiling of second doses for the two-dose regimens.
Report: Many US nursing home staff decline first COVID shots
The CDC looked at more than 11,000 nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities that had at least one vaccination clinic between the middle of December and the middle of January. Data previously showed that people who work in nursing homes and long-term care facilities get flu vaccines at lower rates than other health-care workers. Surveys suggest that long-term care workers are skeptical the shots work and don't think viruses spread easily from them to the people they care for. The government tasked CVS and Walgreens with administering the shots to long-term care homes in nearly every state. Each vaccine requires two shots a few weeks apart, and CVS and Walgreens say they have wrapped up first-dose clinics in nursing homes.
More retailers plan to help with COVID-19 vaccine rollout
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. โ Within about 2 ยฝ hours Friday, all Publix COVID-19 vaccine appointments were booked up, including at locations in St. Johns and Flagler counties. The Publix vaccine appointments are for health care workers, people age 65 and up and long-term residents and staff. As the demand for the COVID-19 vaccine continues, more retailers are expected to help with the distribution. According to its website, Winn-Dixie plans to offer the vaccine to people, health care workers and long-term residents first. COUNTY-BY-COUNTY: COVID-19 vaccine distribution in Northeast FloridaWalmart said itโs prepared to administer the COVID-19 vaccine at its more than 5,000 stores and Samโs Club pharmacies nationwide when itโs asked to do so.
'Little old West Virginia' sets pace on vaccine rollout
More shots have gone into peopleโs arms per capita across West Virginia than in any other state, with at least 7.4% of the population receiving the first of two shots, according to state data. โLittle old West Virginia, that was thought of for hundreds of years, you know, as a place where maybe we were backward or dark or dingy,โ Justice said last week. Instead, it turns out that โWest Virginia has been the diamond in the rough,โ Justice said on CBSโ "Face the Nation" on Sunday. The federal partnership involving both companies would have allowed Washington officials to dictate the terms of nursing home vaccinations, said Marty Wright, the head of the West Virginia Health Care Association, which represents health care companies. The governor wants in-person learning to resume at as many schools as possible by Tuesday, long before teachers will have received their second vaccine doses.
California hospitals discuss rationing care as virus surges
Plans for rationing care are not in place yet, but they need to be established because โthe worst is yet to come,โ said Los Angeles County's health services director, Dr. Christina Ghaly. Until then, four hospitals run by Los Angeles County are weighing what to do if they cannot treat everyone because of a shortage of beds or staffers. Some hospitals have canceled non-essential elective surgeries, such as hip replacements, that might take up beds that could soon be needed for COVID-19 patients. Scientists are working to determine whether the strain spreads more easily, said Moncef Slaoui, the chief science adviser for the U.S. governmentโs COVID-19 vaccine effort. Bill Lee on Sunday announced new social gathering restrictions while still refusing to implement a mask mandate despite pleas from front-line health care workers.
EXPLAINER: What to know about COVID-19 vaccination in the US
Dr. Michelle Chester draws the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine into a syringe at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, in the Queens borough of New York. Even with vaccination, you'll still need to take precautions, like wearing a mask and social distancing, health officials say. Once doses are widely available, people should be able to use an existing government website, www.vaccinefinder.org, to find COVID-19 shots. The panel also suggests avoiding getting other vaccinations for two weeks before and after a COVID-19 shot. COVID-19 vaccines canโt be mixed and matched, so if a second dose is needed, providers will be checking to make sure you get the right one.
DeSantis: Florida to receive nearly 180,000 of Pfizerโs vaccines
TALLAHASSEE โ Florida will receive 179,400 doses of Pfizer Inc.โs vaccine in its first shipment from the federal government, Gov. More than half of the vaccines --- 97,500 doses --- will be sent to five Florida hospitals to be administered to high-contact and high-exposure health care personnel, DeSantis said. Thursdayโs video was the first time DeSantis publicly said how many vaccines the state will receive. DeSantisโ office released the video about the vaccines hours after Florida Senate Democrats criticized his handling of the coronavirus. Jonesโ video shows officers brandishing guns and telling Jones to exit the house.
Amazon opens online pharmacy, shaking up another industry
The retail colossus opened an online pharmacy Tuesday that allows customers to order medication or prescription refills, and have them delivered to their front door in a couple of days. All have upped online services and touted their abilities to deliver prescriptions and other goods as the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed more consumers to stay home. The company said its online pharmacy will offer commonly prescribed medications in the U.S., including creams, pills, as well as medications that need to stay refrigerated, like insulin. They can also get discounts at 50,000 physical pharmacies around the country at Costco, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and other stores. Two years ago, it spent $750 million to buy online pharmacy PillPack, which organizes medication in packets by what time and day they need to be taken.
President Trump touts vaccine partnership with pharmacies
FORT MYERS, Fla. โ Campaigning Friday in Fort Myers, President Donald Trump pledged to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine to many senior citizens free of charge through a partnership with two major pharmacy chains. The president also has said he would have vaccines available to the public by the Nov. 3 election. And even if vaccines were available, itโs not clear Americans, especially older ones, would get vaccinated. Trump, who also held a rally in Ocala, will likely be unable to win a second term if he loses the state. The news about the vaccine partnership also came as states were required to submit draft plans to the federal government about how they will distribute a coronavirus vaccine when one is approved for public use.
Feds planning now to get coronavirus shots to nursing homes
Under the voluntary program, trained staff from CVS and Walgreens would deliver the vaccines to each nursing home and administer shots. The nation has 15,000-16,000 nursing homes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The use of retail chain pharmacies has prompted some concerns, because nursing homes typically deal with specialized pharmacies and not the big drugstores catering to consumers. Mango said the plan would accommodate nursing homes that want to continue to work with specialized pharmacies. HHS Secretary Alex Azar said the program will โprovide convenient and free vaccination to residents of nursing homes across America.โ
Hawaii to allow travelers to skip quarantine with virus test
David Ige said Wednesday that starting Oct. 15, travelers arriving from out of state may bypass a 14-day quarantine requirement if they test negative for COVID-19. Travelers will have to take the test within 72 hours before their flight arrives in the islands. Earlier this year Ige planned to start a pre-travel testing program on Aug. 1 only to have to postpone it as COVID-19 cases spiked on the U.S. mainland and in Hawaii. Hawaii leaders are hopeful that pre-travel testing will encourage people to return to a Hawaii in a way that keeps residents safe. โI want to emphasize that this pre-travel testing will allow us to add a greater element of safety for travel into our state,โ Ige said at a news conference.
Judge rejects pharmacy chains' bid to toss opioid suits
(AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)CLEVELAND Lawsuits filed by two Ohio counties against retail pharmacy chains claiming their opioid dispensing practices flooded communities with pain pills and were a a public nuisance can continue, a federal judge in Cleveland has determined. U.S. District Judge Dan Polster rejected the pharmacy chains' motion to dismiss the suits, ruling Thursday that the Ohio law does indeed apply to Lake and Trumbull counties' nuisance claims. Polster is overseeing more than 2,000 lawsuits filed by local governments, tribal authorities and others against companies they blame for fueling an opioid epidemic that has killed 430,000 people since 2000. The two northeast Ohio counties' lawsuits against CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Walmart and Giant Eagle were the first to target retail pharmacy chains as both distributors and dispensers of painkillers. Those claims seek damages from the retail chains as distributors of painkillers but not as dispensers.
Florida gov chooses side in sunscreen debate: Slather away!
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. When it comes to sunscreen, skin cancer and coral reefs, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken the side of sun worshipers who have gotten tacit approval to slather away. The bill was one of 28 signed into law by DeSantis late Monday. But DeSantis sided with health and sunscreen advocates who argued that people's health outweighed the threat to coral reefs. With a stroke of his pen, the governor also repealed Chapter 363 in its entirety from Florida statute on Monday.
Arizona governor facing pressure to act as virus cases surge
The Arizona Department of Health Services posted on its website Monday another 1,104 cases of COVID-19 and eight additional deaths, bringing the statewide total number of coronavirus cases to 36,705 and related deaths to 1,194. Doug Ducey to take steps like requiring masks in public to slow a major increase in new coronavirus cases that has made the state a national hot spot. Arizona hospitals were treating a record number of coronavirus patients Tuesday amid a surge of new cases. The state's Health Services Department reported a record number of emergency room visits for the virus as well. #MaskUpAZ.During a news briefing last week where he pushed back on questions about a mask mandate, the governor insisted that the state's hospitals, while filling up, had the capacity to treat any expected surge in virus patients.
Report says Walgreens may go private
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(CNN) - Drug store giant Walgreens Boots Alliance is one of the worst stocks in the Dow this year. But shares shot up Tuesday after Reuters reported that the company is considering taking itself private. Shares of Walgreens popped 3.5% in heavy trading on the report. An acquisition of Walgreens would not come cheap for any private equity firm though. Walgreens shares are down nearly 10% this year, making it the second-worst performer in the Dow in 2019 behind only pharma giant Pfizer.
Retailers are pulling Johnson's baby powder from store shelves
(CNN) - Several retailers have pulled Johnson's baby powder from shelves after Johnson & Johnson announced earlier this month it was recalling 33,000 bottles due to asbestos concerns. CVS, Target, Walgreens and Rite Aid said on Friday they had removed all 22-ounce bottles of the baby powder from store shelves. Walmart said it had removed recalled Johnson's baby powder. "The only action we've taken is with products impacted by the Johnson & Johnson recall." Additionally, FDA is not aware of any records pointing to counterfeit Johnson's baby powder in the US market," Meyer's email said.
Walgreens will close about 200 US stores
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images(CNN) - Walgreens will close about 200 locations across the United States as part of its plan to cut costs. After buying roughly half of Rite Aid's stores two years ago, Walgreens expanded its American footprint to more than 9,500 stores. The planned closures represent less than 3% of Walgreens locations. Walgreens did not provide a list of the stores that it plans to close. Parent company Walgreens Boots Alliance announced in June it would close 200 of its more than 2,400 Boots stores in the United Kingdom.