CVS is latest pharmacy to offer walk-in COVID vaccines. Here’s what to know

Bailey Aldridge
·2 min read

Walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations are now available at thousands of CVS locations across the country.

CVS announced Wednesday it’s joining the list of pharmacies offering people the coronavirus vaccine without requiring an appointment, spokesperson Matt Blanchette told McClatchy News. Same-day scheduling as soon as one hour ahead of time is also available.

Walk-ins are available at 8,300 CVS locations across the country, Blanchette said. The company has more than 9,900 locations across 49 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.

People should check for availability near them at cvs.com.

CVS is the latest pharmacy to offer walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations.

Walgreens announced it would start accommodating walk-ins at select locations across the country on Wednesday. It’s also offering same-day vaccine appointments at all of its retail locations.

Walmart and Sam’s Club are also offering walk-in vaccinations at all of their pharmacy locations “as supply allows,” Walmart, which owns Sam’s Club, said in a statement Tuesday.

The increasing availability of walk-in vaccinations comes as President Joe Biden announced Tuesday a new goal of having 70% of adults at least partially vaccinated and 160 million fully vaccinated by July 4.

“That means giving close to 100 million shots — some first shots, others second shots — over the next 60 days,” Biden said during a news conference. “Of course Americans can still gets shots after July 4, but no one should wait.”

The country previously surpassed Biden’s goal of administering 200 million vaccines by his first 100 days in office.

But some experts have expressed concern about a decrease in demand for the vaccine in some areas, which could threaten the country’s progress toward reaching heard immunity against COVID-19. Experts have said efforts to encourage people to get the vaccine or to make it more accessible will need to ramp up at state and local levels.

Walgreens, which has administered more than 15 million coronavirus shots, says it has an “important role” in “removing access barriers to the COVID-19 vaccine.”

CVS says it has administered more than 17 million vaccines.

“We continue to orchestrate an all-out effort to vaccinate the nation against COVID-19,” CVS Health President and CEO Karen S. Lynch said in a statement. “Thanks to the dedication and effort of our colleagues, I am proud to say we helped achieve the President’s accelerated 100-day goal of 200 million vaccines and have administered over 17 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to date.”