CINCINNATI – Kroger Health, the healthcare division of The Kroger Co., announced Tuesday it will provide the COVID-19 vaccine nationwide across its 2,200 pharmacies and 220 clinics, partnering with the federal government and state health departments to administer the vaccine in accordance with the rollout plan.
“Kroger Health is a COVID-19 response leader that has provided our patients, associates and other businesses with diagnostic testing tools and supporting resources since the onset of this public health crisis,” said Colleen Lindholz, Kroger Health’s president. “Kroger Health’s experienced health care providers remain committed to helping our patients and associates live healthier lives. The size and scale of our health care operation provides us with the unique ability to efficiently facilitate COVID-19 testing and immunize a large portion of the U.S. population, once the authorized vaccines become more widely available.”
Over the last few months, Kroger Health has worked closely with the Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Defense as well as the pharmaceutical companies and other businesses to prepare for vaccine authorization, according to a news release from Kroger. Now that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized two vaccines, Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, Kroger Health will support the phased approach, focusing first on priority populations as defined by federal and state governments. Illustratively, Kroger Health will begin to administer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in Anchorage and Juneau this week to health care workers in partnership with the state of Alaska. Kroger Health is also engaged in vaccination efforts for prioritized populations in several other geographies.
Kroger continues to advocate on behalf of associates for essential workers to have priority access to the vaccine in line with the organization’s efforts earlier this year to help associates access personal protection equipment like masks and gloves.
