Easily Accessible Vaccinations

The coronavirus pandemic has been dominating the news in recent months. Much of the attention has been on measures to prevent the spread of the virus, and the potential for developing effective treatments — and a possible COVID-19 vaccine. While such a focus on COVID-19 is warranted, it is also important to remember that members’ routine care, including staying current with vaccinations, is essential.

Our vaccine program helps keep medical costs down and helps members and communities stay healthy.

Many members may be avoiding doctors’ offices for preventive care during the pandemic because of perceived health risks, skipping routine vaccinations and becoming susceptible to preventable diseases. Those who are not vaccinated may be vulnerable to contracting preventable diseases and suffer from illnesses at a higher rate.

One such preventable disease is seasonal influenza. Even before the pandemic, the rate of vaccinations in adults had been static or declining in recent years.https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/imz-managers/coverage/adultvaxview/pubs-resources/NHIS-2016.html. During the 2018–19 season, the influenza vaccination rate for adults in the U.S. was only 45 percent.https://www.cdc.gov/flu/fluvaxview/coverage-1819estimates.htm. Consumers cite reasons ranging from convenience and access to cost for not getting vaccinated.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5287327/ However, the cost of influenza outbreaks in the U.S. is in the billions of dollars each year. Avoiding or delaying vaccinations can have significant public — and member — health impacts.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29801998/.

In addition, it’s important for those at a higher risk for severe illness to receive recommended vaccinations, such as those against influenza and pneumococcal pneumonia, to help avoid serious preventable diseases.

CVS Caremark offers a cost-effective, comprehensive program to help increase member vaccination rates, and to help reduce additional burdens on the health care system and providers.

Convenient, Cost-Effective Plans

Our safe, comprehensive vaccination programs provide plan members convenient access to low- or no-cost vaccinations at their local pharmacy.

Vaccination program options:

CVS Health Broad Vaccination Network CVS Pharmacy Vaccination Network

On-site vaccination clinic program* Flu vaccination vouchers

Our vaccination programs are available where your members are — in their neighborhood. Retail pharmacy administered vaccinations are safe, convenient and affordable. Receiving vaccinations at a pharmacy can lighten physicians’ loads while costing less than half, compared to vaccinations administered in a physician’s office — savings that can benefit a client’s plan.https://www.jmcp.org/doi/pdf/10.18553/jmcp.2014.20.9.930

Depending on the client’s plan, member vaccinations are available at:

68,000 Network retail pharmacies

Including 9,900 CVS pharmacies

Clients can choose to have their members receive vaccinations across our national network of retail pharmacies, or exclusively use CVS Pharmacy locations for even more cost savings. Additionally, our on-site vaccination clinic program allows clients to schedule a time for our trained pharmacists to provide vaccinations at the client site — at no additional charge to members. For employees not covered by a client’s plan — such as those working part-time — we also offer flu vaccination vouchers redeemable at CVS Pharmacy locations and at our on-site clinics.

Clients can request a convenient, easy-to-use toolkit, to communicate the importance of getting routine vaccinations to their members, from their account team.

The comprehensive CVS Caremark vaccination program offers clients a safe, convenient and affordable option to help members stay protected and healthy.