Walmart begins administering its first COVID-19 vaccines to health care workers in New Mexico

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Walmart has begun administering its first COVID-19 vaccines to health care workers in the state of New Mexico.

The retail giant said the recently approved Moderna vaccine was given to pharmacists at select Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs.

The company is in discussions with other states to support their vaccine administration efforts.

“We’re administering the recently approved Moderna vaccine to health care workers at select Walmart stores and Sam’s Clubs in the state of New Mexico. The New Mexico Department of Health carefully chose store locations to help ensure that the vaccine is safely administered in rural areas that need help supporting vaccine distribution to health care workers,” Dr. Tom Van Gilder, chief medical officer of Walmart wrote in blog post last week,

Walmart is preparing its over 5,000 pharmacies at Sam’s Clubs and Walmart stores to be ready when the time comes to administer to essential workers, first responders and older Americans in “Priority 1B” and “Priority 1C”, as per recommendation by the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.