Walgreens & CVS Roll Out Flu Shots Early This Year

Not that you don't have enough on your mind to think about right now, but here's some more good news to have you up all night. Flu season is almost here.

This years seasonal flu will coincide with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and two major pharmacies are getting jump on what they think will be a very busy season. Both Walgreens & CVS are now offering flu shots.

Walgreens announced that they would be offering flu shots daily at all of its nearly 9,100 pharmacies with additional safety measures in place. Walgreens also said they will be increasing flu vaccine supply and staff up its pharmacies as drugstores prepare for what they believe will be an onslaught of customers looking to protect themselves from the seasonal flu while they wait for a vaccine for Covid-19. Representatives told Forbes that they foresee the “demand for flu, pneumonia and other immunizations could be as much as 30-50% higher.”

CVS is also predicting a busier than ever season for flu shots. The drugstore chain expects to give up to 18 million seasonal flu vaccinations, which will be double last year’s volume. "It's going to be difficult to tell the difference between the seasonal flu and Covid-19 so protection against one is important," CVS Health chief executive Larry Merlo said in an interview. "If you think you're just going to power through it because you think it's the seasonal flu, you're going to have a difficult time."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is urging everyone over 6 months of age to get a flu shot to help protect both themselves, their families,  and their communities from illnesses that can be prevented with a vaccine. "The convergence of COVID-19 and flu season means that flu vaccinations are critical to reduce the overall burden of respiratory illnesses on the healthcare system and help protect communities,” said Kevin Ban, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Walgreens. “Getting your flu shot at Walgreens is one more thing we know everyone can do to help keep themselves and their loved ones healthy, in addition to social distancing, thorough hand washing and wearing face coverings.”

Patients can get their flu shots by walk-in or scheduled appointment via Walgreens Find Care through the Walgreens app or online. CVS patients can get information on scheduling their flu shot appointment and find a location near them by visiting their website.