COVID-19 vaccine to be distributed at 2,000 Texas nursing homes

TEXAS (KTRK) -- CVS announced its pharmacies will help distribute COVID-19 vaccinations to more than 40,000 long-term care facilities across the country.

Two thousand of those facilities are in Texas.

According to the chain, vaccinations will be made available to more than 275,000 patients starting Dec. 28.

"Vaccinating one of our most vulnerable populations is the latest milestone in our multifaceted pandemic response, which includes testing more than 10 million people for the virus since March," said Karen S. Lynch, the executive vice president of CVS Health and president of Aetna. "The eventual availability of COVID-19 vaccines in communities across the country will bring us one step closer to overcoming the most significant health challenge of our lifetime."

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CVS Pharmacy teams will make three visits to each long-term care facility to ensure residents and staff receive their initial shot and critical booster. The majority of residents and staff will be fully vaccinated three to four weeks after the first visit, depending on which vaccine they receive.

Health experts said they hope to compete this vaccination effort in about 12 weeks.

There are also plans for the vaccines to be administered to the general public in 10,000 CVS Pharmacy locations throughout the country by next year.

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