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A pharmacist administers a Covid-19 vaccine at a Walmart pharmacy in Danvers, Massachusetts on February 1.
A pharmacist administers a Covid-19 vaccine at a Walmart pharmacy in Danvers, Massachusetts on February 1. Pat Greenhouse / The Boston Globe / Getty Images

Demand for coronavirus vaccines exceeds supply from the federal retail pharmacy program in the United States. CNN finds that appointments are filling up quickly.

Many pharmacies told CNN this week that they can receive and administer many more doses of the vaccine than have arrived so far. Albertsons Companies Inc., an American grocery company headquartered in Boise, Idaho, is using less than 10% of its capacity, according to Albertsons spokesman Andrew Whelan.

“We have the capacity to deliver 150,000 doses each day and can take about 90% more supply within our network,” Whelan told CNN.

Hy-Vee, a Midwestern supermarket chain, told CNN it would be beneficial to have more doses of the vaccine to administer to the public.

“The limited vaccine supply has been our biggest challenge,” company spokeswoman Christina Gayman said. “We would love to have everyone who does, but the supply is still limited.”

Meanwhile, Meijer Inc. has administered 66,000 doses since mid-January, with an expected supplement of 30,000 this week, company representative Frank J. Guglielmi told CNN. Most of the doses were administered in Michigan, where Meijer is both a state and federal vaccine partner.

“Regarding support, we just need more vaccines,” Guglielmi said.

Walgreens, one of the first pharmacies to start administering Covid-19 vaccines in December under a separate partnership with long-term care facilities, administered more than 3 million vaccines on Monday, with an allocation of 180,000 doses per week under the federal program, company spokesman Kelli Teno told CNN.

“As we expand to larger populations, demand for vaccines has continued to exceed stocks,” Teno said. “We share the nation’s enthusiasm to vaccinate people as quickly as possible, but patience is needed as the vaccine inventory continues to build up in the weeks and months to come and we are able to vaccinate more. of communities. “

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