Pfizer Partners With Walgreens to “Provide Informative Vaccine Content” – Appointment Scheduling

Pfizer has announced a partnership with Walgreens with the “goal of providing patients with informative vaccine content from their pharmacy,” raising concerns about a conflict of interest. The press release states that Walgreens pharmacists will provide a personalized touch for patients, including answering questions about safety concerns. Patients who are eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine may receive a text or call “reminding them to schedule an appointment,” and this call would be with a pharmacist rather than an automated robocall.

This announcement comes just days after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a “wide-sweeping” investigation into a “vaccine incentivization framework,” including inquiries into the actions of Pfizer and other vaccine manufacturers.

Last year, the CDC modified its childhood vaccine schedule to remove the COVID-19 vaccine from routine recommendation. The vaccine now falls under the category of shared clinical decision-making, which means a patient or guardian will have an individualized discussion with their healthcare provider about risks and benefits of the vaccine. However, pharmacies like Walgreens are still able to administer the vaccines without a prescription from a doctor in some states. This means, patients may bypass having a personalized discussion with a doctor and instead have a conversation with a Walgreens pharmacist who has a partnership with Pfizer, the manufacturer of one of the COVID-19 vaccines.

The press release uses the “presumptive approach” to discuss vaccines as a CDC page (last updated in August 2024) recommends to healthcare providers. That is, instead of asking patients or guardians if they would like to schedule an appointment, the pharmacist will help the patient find a date or time that is convenient to receive the next vaccine. The CDC page regarding vaccine discussions with patients does not align with the SCDM approach and broadly states that healthcare professionals play a “key role” in “maintaining high vaccination rates.” The page does not discuss the previous history of myocarditis/pericarditis, conditions like Guillain-Barré syndrome, allergic reactions, or a history of reactions to vaccines as potential reasons a healthcare professional may not recommend vaccination for a patient.

The presumptive approach recommended by the 2024 CDC calls upon healthcare professionals to make a “strong recommendation” in response to parents or patients who are not yet ready to vaccinate. If the patient or parent is still hesitant, the suggestion is to restate the strong recommendation, inform parents about clinical presentations of illnesses, and to remind them that extra precautions will need to be taken in the future for the unvaccinated child to receive care in order to protect other patients in the office, clinic, or emergency room. 

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla had a discussion at the World Economic Forum in which he said he was “very concerned” and “very frustrated” about discussions related to vaccines that he views as being “like a religion.” He also stated that the only way to correct this is to replace Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

A new preprint was published on medRxiv regarding the estimated efficacy of emergency care. CIDRAP published an article stating that a preprint study estimates a 57% effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine in reducing emergency care visits. The Pfizer-led study included only 44 vaccinated cases and does not assess whether the emergency room visits were due to COVID-19 infection. Rather, the numbers in the estimates referred to those who tested positive for COVID-19 after visiting the emergency room, regardless of the reason for the visit.

This preprint, which was authored by Pfizer employees and shareholders, also concluded “expanded pharmacist-led vaccination programs may help improve acceptance and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines.” This aligns with Pfizer’s latest announcement about its partnership with Walgreens to help inform patients about vaccinations.

The Walgreens website for COVID-19 vaccine scheduling says the vaccine is available for “eligible individuals ages 3 and older” and suggests visitors to “talk to your pharmacist to decide if it’s right for you.” The PREP Act allows pharmacists to administer COVID-19 and flu shots to anyone three years and older without a prescription, which has been extended to December 31, 2029. 

Walgreens further states individuals should get an updated COVID-19 vaccine even if they have recently been infected with the disease and states “natural immunity after infection exists but is short-term.” Emails from Dr. Anthony Fauci were recently obtained by the Daily Caller in which he calls the data on natural immunity “very impressive” in August 2021. Fauci added that “it is conceivable and possibly likely that those who have had a serious systemic infection develop a high level immunity that even surpasses that of full vaccination.”

A comprehensive Lancet study from 2023 found that those who were infected with COVID-19 at least once before had strong natural immunity against hospitalization and death against all variants – specifically 88% or greater protection at 10 months post-infection.

In 2021, Walgreens offered a $200 incentive to employees if they became fully vaccinated by a specific date. The company also provided $25 incentives to customers who received a COVID-19 vaccine at one of their locations.  

AG Paxton announced his investigation last week into undisclosed financial incentives for medical providers to give vaccines to children. While the Walgreens and Pfizer agreement has been publicly disclosed through press releases, it is unclear whether Walgreens pharmacists will disclose the terms of the partnership to patients who sign up for a vaccine appointment.

The pushback from states and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) against recent changes to the CDC childhood schedule has caused a bigger patchwork of laws across the country changing the guidelines for administration of vaccines, including the vaccines that pharmacists can give children of various ages without a prescription. The Pennsylvania House passed a bill last month that would give authority to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, which can base its recommendations on medical societies like the AAP.

That is – in most states, pharmacists can only administer COVID-19 and flu vaccines to children aged three and up as well as vaccines routinely recommended by the CDC. In some states, pharmacists will be able to give vaccines that the state recommends by referencing AAP guidelines which include vaccines like Hepatitis B, RSV, and Rotavirus that have been removed from the CDC childhood schedule in order to align with “international consensus” and peer nations like Denmark.

The HighWire has reported about these changes and the pushback from states, including the funding the AAP receives directly from the largest vaccine manufacturers.