KROGER HEALTH

Kroger is joining the vaccine lottery craze, offering major prizes for people who get their COVID-19 shot through Kroger Health.

Kroger Health is now receiving and administering vaccines at 1,300 of its 2,200 pharmacies and 220 clinics in 35 states. The pharmacies taking part vary by state, with the CDC offering a state-by-state accounting of which retailers will be getting vaccine doses this week. At Albertsons-owned Lucky Pharmacy in Salt Lake City, Utah, the COVID-19 vaccine is billed as "coming soon." Meijer plans to administer up to 25,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses starting the week of February 8 at clinics in its stores throughout Michigan. Southeastern Grocers began giving 8,100 free Moderna COVID-19 vaccine doses starting February 11 to eligible customers in some Winn-Dixie, Fresco y Más and Harveys Supermarket locations throughout Florida.

Pharmacists and technicians are back in demand as U.S. drugstore giants gear up to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to millions of Americans in 2021. Aggressive recruitment efforts are already underway at CVS Health and Walgreens, both of which are playing a part in a rollout that involves immunizing those at nursing homes. This week, the 9,000-store chain's workers are going to about 800 long-term care facilities across 12 states to administer the vaccine. CVS is hiring 10,000 pharmacy technicians to buttress its COVID-19 efforts, including vaccinations, part of a larger recruitment effort unveiled in October. "We are also hiring pharmacists in certain geographies based on concentrations of long-term care facilities that selected CVS Pharmacy as a COVID-19 vaccination partner," a CVS spokesperson told CBS MoneyWatch in an email.

All Kroger pharmacies are expected to offer rapid COVID-19 antibody testing by the end of November, officials said Thursday. Kroger pharmacies across the U.S. are preparing to offer rapid COVID antibody testing to customers by the end of November. Individuals who are not currently experiencing COVID symptoms, but think they may have previously contracted the virus, are eligible to undergo testing at Kroger pharmacies. Officials say the rapid antibody testing is already available at some Kroger stores in Michigan and California. Individuals are encouraged to speak with their primary care physician about COVID testing needs.

Kroger, one of the country's largest retailers, said Monday that it's expanding employees' access to free coronavirus testing, if they have symptoms. Kroger is one of five U.S. retailers that have opened and staffed a growing number of drive-thru testing locations across the country. They are staffed by nurse practitioners, pharmacists and technicians from Kroger Health, the company's health-care division, and located in store parking lots. A federal law, signed by President Trump in mid-March, also requires employer-sponsored health plans to provide free coverage of Covid-19 testing. Kroger Health president Colleen Lindholz said the grocer is "doing all we can to keep our team healthy and safe."

click to enlarge Facebook.com/krogerhealthKroger Health has expanded its free COVID-19 drive-thru testing program into new locations in Michigan, Ohio, Colorado, and Tennessee. These states join Kentucky which launched its sites in early April to create a total of five states now offering free COVID-19 testing. Kroger says, "the company will begin piloting site-specific testing for Kroger associates in Michigan and Colorado, while also empowering its own pharmacists to initiate the lab order and observe self-administered testing where allowable by applicable law. We welcome this opportunity to expand our efforts in our nation's battle against COVID-19," said Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health, in a release. "For testing, patients arrive at a testing facility and remain in their cars, where they will be given a testing kit.