Watch CBS News

CVS Pharmacies Begin Offering COVID Vaccinations In Calif. Friday

GLENDALE (CBSLA) – Drug store giant CVS will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines in California beginning Friday.

COVID-19 vaccination center at Cal Poly Pomona
Derenik Gharibian, area pharmacy director Kaiser, prepares Pfizer coronavirus vaccine. A health care consortium of Kaiser Permanente, Adventist Health, the California Medical Association, CommonSpirit, Dignity Health and Futuro Health opened a mass COVID_19 vaccination site at Cal Poly on Friday, Feb. 5, 2021 in Pomona, CA.(Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

California is one of 11 states where CVS stores will be offering vaccinations through a direct partnership with the federal government.

According to CVS Pharmacy's website, people could begin registering for appointments Thursday at stores in several cities throughout Southern California. A spokesperson for the company said that CVS will begin administering the vaccines on Friday.

Appointments must be made through the CVS website. However, as of Thursday morning the site was experiencing very heavy traffic.

CVS said last week that it was receiving an initial allotment of 81,900 doses to be administered at 100 stores statewide. It's unclear exactly what portion of those doses were made available to CVS stores in Southern California.

Currently in Los Angeles County, only healthcare workers, those over age 65 and nursing home residents are eligible for vaccinations.

This comes as Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Wednesday that officials will be forced to close the five city-run COVID-19 vaccine super sites, including Dodger Stadium, this upcoming Friday and Saturday due to an extreme shortage in Moderna doses.

Since Tuesday, the seven vaccine super sites run by the L.A. County Public Health Department have only been administering second doses due to the shortage.

According to the latest state numbers, more than 5 million doses have been administered across California. 1.25 million of those have been administered in L.A. County.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.