Politicians, Walgreens Spar over COVID-19 Vaccinations
Betty Hermanek receives her COVID-19 vaccination at the Caledonia Senior Living and Memory Care Center in North Riverside January 12. (Photo Credit: Chicago Tribune)
Despite criticism across Illinois and the U.S., Deerfield-based pharmacy company Walgreens is reporting it has completed 100% of the first round of COVID-19 vaccinations at skilled nursing facilities it was contracted to provide. And Walgreens reports 56% of residents the company has been contracted to serve in assisted living facilities have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Earlier this week, Governor JB Pritzker criticized the Trump administration for its contracts with Walgreens and CVS to provide vaccines in Illinois nursing homes.
"One of the things that they did was they created this federal pharmacy partnership program with two large pharmacy companies to do all the vaccinating at our nursing homes and our various assisted living facilities,” Pritzker said Monday. “We have about 1,700 of them across the state of Illinois. That program has gone exceedingly slow. And the federal government required that the number of vaccines be taken out of our entire allotment. All the vaccinations that are necessary for that entire group have been taken out already of our allotment and they sit on shelves because that federal pharmacy partnership is so slow at the job.”
A Walgreens corporate spokesperson told The Illinoize Thursday night the company is making significant progress since receiving first doses of the vaccine in late December.
“We completed the administration of COVID-19 vaccine first doses in skilled nursing facilities on January 25 and expect to complete administration in assisted living facilities in the coming weeks, the spokesperson said in a statement. “Since receiving our first allotments of vaccines in late December, Walgreens has remained on track in vaccinating our most vulnerable populations, and we are steadfast in our commitment to accelerating access to COVID-19 vaccines as we receive additional guidance from state governments and jurisdictions. We are working hand in hand with states to achieve the shared goal of vaccinating our most vulnerable populations as quickly as possible.”
CVS did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Speaking Thursday at a vaccination site in suburban Cicero, Pritzker was less critical of the progress of the two companies.
“I’ve spoken recently with leaders at the two pharmacy companies that are doing that vaccination effort across the state. They’re working hard to complete that. They’ve agreed that they will complete the first round of assisted living sites by February 15th, about two weeks from now,” Pritzker said. “Almost 90% of the deaths that have occurred in long term care facilities occurred in skilled nursing facilities. To be able to get vaccinations into those facilities, to get that whole first round done, I’m pleased to see that things are improving in that regard.”
Republican lawmakers continued to attack Pritzker’s vaccine rollout and COVID-19 response in a letter Thursday. The letter, signed by Senate Minority Leader Dan McConchie (R-Hawthorn Woods) and the 17 other members of his caucus, lambasted Pritzker for his response to the pandemic.
“We are asking for you to provide a clear explanation to legislators and to the citizens of Illinois as to why Illinois is among the worst states in regard to getting vaccines out to those who need it most. With all due respect, blaming the previous President, the federal government and CVS/Walgreens simply will not suffice,” Republicans wrote. “Since the pandemic began, you decided on a go-it-alone approach, one that left the legislature, an equal branch of government, sidelined. You need to empower us as legislators by including us in this process so we can help our constituents who are calling us every day asking why they or their loved ones have not been able to access a vaccine.”
(Disclosure: I worked for Senate Republicans from 2013-2014.)
Pritzker responded with a letter to GOP Senators Thursday saying the state is on the right track.
“Illinois is on the right trajectory: we hit records on both Wednesday and Tuesday this week. In fact, as we have helped local health departments overcome their challenges, the State of Illinois is administering more doses a week than it is receiving from the federal government,” the Governor wrote. “There is additional national bipartisan consensus on the insufficient preparation of the Trump Administration’s Pharmacy Partnership for Long-Term Care vaccination program; most notably, that while 49 of the 50 states enrolled in the welcomed federal assistance for prioritizing our most vulnerable residents, the federal government did not ensure that CVS and Walgreens had the proper staffing. Indeed, the national program spent half of December accumulating precious doses, not actually delivering a shot into an arm until weeks after states had started this process.”
McConchie told The Illinoize late Thursday the Governor’s response to questions from his caucus was insufficient.
“The Governor wrote ten paragraphs and still didn't answer the question. Why are we 47th in vaccine rollout? What are the specific problems with getting vaccines into people's arms? Other states have figured this out. He has taken the go-it-alone approach to managing the crisis. He owns this,” McConchie said.
Whether it’s for political purposes or not, Republicans don’t seem likely to let up on Pritzker’s pandemic response anytime soon.