WEST DES MOINES, Iowa  — The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced its Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination partners on Tuesday, and Hy-Vee has been named a national partner in both Iowa and South Dakota.

The program is a collaboration between the federal government and 21 national pharmacy partners and independent pharmacy networks to increase access to the COVID-19 vaccine across the United States. The program is one component of the federal government’s strategy to expand access to vaccines across the country, and is being implemented incrementally based on the available vaccine supply, with select retail pharmacy locations providing COVID-19 vaccine to eligible individuals.

Starting the week of February 8, Hy-Vee anticipates receiving vaccine allocations directly from the CDC to help vaccinate qualifying residents in Iowa and South Dakota per each state’s vaccination guidelines. There will be an extremely limited vaccine allocation to start, with more allocations expected in the upcoming weeks.

“We have the infrastructure and resources in place to serve communities throughout our eight-state region as soon as we receive additional vaccine,” said Randy Edeker, Hy-Vee’s chairman, CEO and president. “Through our preparation efforts, we have the ability to start vaccinating eligible populations less than 24 hours after receiving allocations. The issue to date has been demand far exceeding supply, and we believe this partnership helps strengthen our advocacy efforts to receive more of the vaccine.”

Vaccine inventory is still limited and available to eligible individuals by appointment only at select Hy-Vee Pharmacy locations. Once vaccines become available, appointments can be made through Hy-Vee’s online scheduler at https://www.hy-vee.com/my-pharmacy/covid-vaccine-consent. The pharmacy locations are not providing vaccinations on a walk-in basis at this time. Hy-Vee will also prioritize those who are due for second doses of the vaccine.

More information on the CDC’s Federal Retail Pharmacy Program is available here.