HAMBURG, N.Y. — If you were hoping to book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at CVS when they opened their scheduler today, you're going to have to try another day.
Appointments at the five WNY locations were booked before 9am, according to their website.
Vaccinations are by appointment only, and in-store availability is set to begin Friday, February 12.
CVS locations in Batavia, Hamburg, Lewiston, Olean and Westfield are supposed to have doses available, according to a news release from the company, but the company did not specify exactly which stores will get vaccine doses.
CVS and Walgreens are participating in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination to get more doses in arms in Western New York and across the state.
The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination is a collaboration between the federal government, states, and 21 pharmacy partners.
In New York, CVS is getting an initial shipment of 20,000 doses as part of the federal program. Those doses will be divided among 32 CVS locations across the state, according to CVS Health regional director Edward Campbell. He would not say how many doses each store will receive.
Campbell said your best bet to schedule an appointment is to go online, but you can also call the company's COVID vaccination hotline at 888-364-3065 . You can also call your local CVS location and be directed to the call center.
Campbell said CVS pharmacies and the website are well-equipped to handle the demand for COVID vaccines because of previous experience with booking appointments for and administering flu shots. They did 20 million flu shots last year across the country. They also used the same online and phone systems to book 10 million COVID test appointments, according to Campbell.
As CVS gets more doses as part of the federal program, they will increase the number of doses at each location and increase the number of stores that offer them.
"We're prepared to rapidly expand this effort as we are allocated more vaccine. We'll have the capacity at some point to give 20 to 25 million shots per month. Really it's just based upon the supply," said Campbell.
Walgreens was also selected by the CDC to participate in the federal vaccination program and will begin in-store vaccinations on Friday, February 12. The online appointment booking system is already up and running.
"Walgreens was one of the first pharmacies to begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations in December to long-term care facility staff and residents, and we look forward to leveraging our experience to support the federal government and CDC in expanding access to these vaccines," said John Standley, president, Walgreens.
Vaccine inventory is limited. Doses are available only for eligible individuals and by appointment only. No walk-ins are being accepted at this time. Click here to schedule an appointment at a participating Walgreens location nearest you.
A news release from Walgreens says a defined number of doses will be allocated from the CDC to Walgreens in each state, though it did not specify how many doses are coming to Western New York. As of Thursday morning, Walgreens said it has 10,700 doses of the vaccine to be shared among 107 stores in New York state (not counting doses or stores in New York City).