CVS, Walgreens Pledge to Ramp up COVID-19 Testing Efforts as White House Takes Aim at Reopening Economy

The White House unveiled COVID-19 testing and tracing guidance Monday evening, April 27^th, with buy-in from many of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains.

At the briefing, representatives from major pharmacy chains including CVS Health, Walgreens, Walmart, and Kroger pledged to significantly boost their use of self-swab COVID-19 tests.

CVS said it will have 1,000 testing locations open by the end of May that can process 1.5 million tests per month, if the lab capacity and supplies are available. 

CEO Larry Merlo said the companies are all striving for the same goal.

“We all share the same goal, and that’s dramatically increasing the frequency and efficiency of testing so we can slow the spread of the virus and start to responsibly reopen the economy when experts tell us it’s safe,” Merlo said.

Walgreens said it will be opening additional drive-thru testing locations in 49 states and Puerto Rico and announced a partnership with LabCorp that the pharmacy chain said should triple its testing capacity.

Walgreens will work with the administration to establish the new testing sites, which it says will allow it to test 50,000 people weekly.

LabCorp will also have COVID-19 antibody tests at more than 100 Walgreens locations starting Monday.

Source: https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/tech/cvs-walgreens-pledge-to-ramp-up-covid-19-testing-efforts-as-white-house-aims-to-reopen-economy