Gov. Wolf Says Rite Aid Pharmacies In State Will Receive Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 Vaccine For School Employees And Students
HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA) -- A Pennsylvania pharmacy chain is gearing up to help get teachers and students safely back in the classroom.
Rite Aid Pharmacy announced on Friday that it will soon begin administering the Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine at its vaccination sites. The pharmacy said it plans on using allocated doses of the vaccine to get shots into the arms of educators, school staff and child care providers.
Governor Tom Wolf said Rite Aid is "an integral part of the vaccination effort" and the pharmacy has "agreed to use their Johnson & Johnson vaccine allocation to give child care workers who provide an essential service the option to get a vaccination."
The federal government is supplying Rite Aid with 30,000 doses of the vaccine through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Partnership, separate from the state's allocation. In total, that's around 123,000 doses of the J&J shot, according to Wolf.
Leaders believe this single-dose vaccine will help push teachers and staff back into the classroom faster.
Jocelyn Konrad, the executive VP of Rite Aid, said, "We'll go out to schools, we'll go out to care centers. We can immunize teachers in that location especially if they are on-site and we can do it very quickly."
The specifics are still out on how the pharmacy will connect with people in that group.