Monterey County shares “concern” with CVS over locations picked for vaccine effort

SALINAS, Calif. (KION)

One day after CVS announced two Monterey County locations will be part of their COVID-19 vaccine effort, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors tells the company they are concerned over the cities selected.

CVS released a handful of the 100 California pharmacy locations where they will be administering the vaccine, as part of the federal pharmacy partnership program. This list included Carmel and Monterey.

In a letter to CVS Health President and CEO Karen Lynch, shared by Supervisor Luis Alejo, the Board writes that they are concerned the initial doses of the program are not going to Monterey County locations "that are the most accessible to our most vulnerable residents." The letter continues, "we support the Program, but we believe it must be administered equitably to ensure it does not exacerbate the alarming trend we are seeing in the County and across the country of COVID-19 spreading through communities of color at higher rates."

Supervisors say they are willing to work with CVS to identify other CVS Pharmacy locations in areas of the county more greatly impacted by the pandemic. They recommend two locations, one in Salinas and another in Soledad.

• Salinas: 347 East Alisal Street

• Soledad: 2293 H Dela Rosa Street

The doses administered by CVS will be from the federal government's program, which is separate from the allocation given to the Monterey County Health Department.

This is a developing story.