Giant, Martins stores will provide COVID-19 vaccine once it is developed under deal with U.S.

The GIANT Company announced Friday that it has inked a deal with the feds to provide a COVID-19 vaccine at its 132 Giant and Martin’s supermarkets once a vaccine is developed.

The company’s pharmacists already administer an array of other vaccines. The COVID-19 deal is with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

“Being part of this federal pharmacy program lays the groundwork once a vaccine is available to help increase access to and distribution of the vaccine,” said Leigh Shirley, the company’s director of pharmacy operations.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, clinical trials are underway on four potential vaccines in the U.S. and others are under development as well.

Operation Warp Speed, the federal initiative to develop a COVID-19 vaccine, has an aim of supplying the first approved vaccine in at least limited quantities by the end of this year, the CDC says.

___

(c)2020 The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.)

Visit The Patriot-News (Harrisburg, Pa.) at www.pennlive.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.