Walmart stores across the United States are building the infrastructure needed to administer potentially millions of doses of vaccines if states give them the go-ahead.
Walmart officials said they are preparing more than 5,000 Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies throughout the country with freezers and dry ice capacity needed to store vaccines upon approval.
“States will determine who should receive the first doses of the vaccine and when. Walmart will not have any say in who can receive the vaccine, but we are ready to support states once they do,” Walmart said in a statement.
The news came a day after an Associated Press/NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll found a 50-50 split among people in the U.S. regarding whether or not they are willing to take a vaccine.
A Food and Drug Administration panel is considering approving an experimental vaccine created by Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech. U.S. officials have ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine should it be approved by the FDA.
More than 3,000 people died in the U.S. on Wednesday from complications arising from the coronavirus, according to the New York Times coronavirus data tracker.
