A Walgreens study reveals that over 80% of patients received their second dose of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on time, per recommendations from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Walgreens was one of the largest participants in the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program (FRRP), which was started to rapidly distribute COVID-19 vaccines in 2021. The company operates 8,965 retail pharmacy locations in the United States, with approximately 78% of Americans living within 5 miles of a Walgreens pharmacy, the authors said.
The study was published in Vaccine and was based on data collected from 4,870,915 participants who received at least one dose of mRNA-1273 at Walgreens between December 18, 2020, and February 28, 2022. The participants were 57.0% White and 52.6% female and were, on average, 49.4 years old.
Among patients who received a first dose of mRNA-1273 at Walgreens, 84.9% (4,137,382) went on to receive a second dose, and of these, 96.0% received the second dose on time (3,970,906), defined as between 24 and 42 days after the first dose.
Factors related to second-dose uptake included being older, having to travel 10 miles or less to get the first dose, higher community-level health insurance coverage, and residing in areas with low social vulnerability.
"Patients identifying as Hispanic or Latino/Black or African American had reduced odds of receiving the second dose on-time as compared to White (not Hispanic/Latino) patients, suggesting that factors other than accessibility contributed to lower rates among these patients," the authors said. "Similar disparities have been reported in previous research, suggesting the need for further study into vaccination barriers and facilitators within these populations."
Similar disparities have been reported in previous research, suggesting the need for further study into vaccination barriers.
As of February 8, 2023, the CDC said that 92% of US adults had received at least one dose of COVID-19, vaccine, and 79% were fully vaccinated with a primary series.