CVS Health CEO says company prepared to quickly begin vaccinations

🎥 Dec 13, 2020 📺 Face the Nation ⏱ 6m

Larry Merlo says the company can begin vaccinating patients within about 48 hours of receiving a vaccine.

About Larry Merlo

Larry Merlo, former President and CEO of CVS Health, stated that the company was prepared to begin administering COVID-19 vaccinations within 48 hours of receiving a vaccine allocation. He said that CVS had been working with Operation Warp Speed and the CDC, and that the company's first involvement would be in long-term care facilities, with 10,000 healthcare professionals ready to administer the vaccine. Merlo also noted that CVS had conducted over seven million COVID-19 tests and had built mobile kiosks to bring testing to underserved communities. Merlo discussed CVS Health's acquisition of Aetna, describing it as an opportunity to create a new healthcare platform that is simpler and less expensive for consumers. He said that the combination of CVS and Aetna would allow the company to become more of a healthcare destination, addressing chronic disease management and reducing overall healthcare costs. Merlo also addressed the opioid crisis, stating that CVS would "vigorously defend" its actions and that the company was not "on the hook" for the crisis.

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Transcript (21 segments)

Margaret Brennan0:01

CVS Pharmacy is one of the locations where Americans will eventually be able to get a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes widely available. CBS Health CEO Larry Merlo joins us this morning from Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Good morning.

Larry Merlo0:17

Good morning, Margaret. Thanks for having me.

Margaret Brennan0:18

Well, I'd love to get your insight for the American people on what they can expect. We hear from the U.S. government, from Operation Warp Speed Commander General Perna, that a vaccine can be distributed within 24 hours of approval to all 50 states. We know the elderly are likely to be among the first to receive it, and I know your company has contracts to give those shots in the arms inside long-term care facilities. What is the time frame? When you receive it from the U.S. government, how long before there's a shot in the arm?

Larry Merlo0:57

Yeah, Margaret, it's a great question. We have been working closely with Operation Warp Speed and the CDC for several months now. Our first involvement in terms of administering the vaccine will be in long-term care facilities. That is not anything that is new for us. Our pharmacists, our nursing professionals have gone to skilled nursing facilities, assisted living facilities for several years now conducting seasonal flu clinics. So we have the systems, we have the processes, we have built the logistics directly for the COVID vaccine. And we just received information within the last few days that more than 25,000 long-term care facilities have selected CVS to be their COVID vaccine provider. So we're in the final step of matching our staffing plan to our logistics plan. And to your point, Operation Warp Speed has said 24 hours after approval, those vaccines will be on the road, and 48 hours after we receive that vaccine, we'll be in those facilities providing that vaccine into the arms of our elderly and most vulnerable population.

Margaret Brennan2:03

So for someone at home who has a loved one inside a nursing home right now, when they hear the FDA approval happens, what can they expect? Within three days, their loved one will get a shot in the arm?

Larry Merlo2:15

Yeah, we will be starting that process. We will go to each of the facilities that have selected CVS. We will be performing three clinics over a three to six week period, but we'll be starting that process, as I mentioned, within 48 hours.

Margaret Brennan2:32

Okay. You're hiring thousands of people to do all of this work. Who's actually administering the shots? Are these pharmacists? Are these interns? Who are they?

Larry Merlo2:42

Yeah, they will be pharmacists along with pharmacy interns and licensed pharmacy technicians. Collectively, those will be the professionals that will be administering the vaccines all across the country.

Margaret Brennan2:55

And will CVS employees who are giving the vaccine also be among the first to receive it themselves?

Larry Merlo3:03

Well, we will wait guidance from the CDC in terms of the various protocols in terms of the phases and who's eligible for those phases, and we will certainly be involved when it's our turn.

Margaret Brennan3:15

Okay. Have you briefed the incoming Biden administration on the plans that you know so far? And I understand you're saying you're still waiting on a lot of this information yourself, but what kind of contact have you had?

Larry Merlo3:28

Yeah, we have reached out to the Biden COVID task force. We've talked about the role that we have been playing in fighting the virus, the role that we played in testing all across the country, the fact that we've now tested more than seven million Americans for COVID, the plans that we have to play an important role in administering the vaccine, and the fact that we have 10,000 pharmacies. About 70% of the U.S. population lives within a few miles of a CVS pharmacy. But equally important, we have built mobile kiosks where, with testing, we have gone into historically underserved communities to bring access to COVID testing. We'll do the same thing with a vaccine.

Margaret Brennan4:14

And what does that mean? Temporary facilities?

Larry Merlo4:17

Yeah, think of a mobile trailer that we can put on wheels and take to a particular location to provide testing availability. And we'll be doing the same thing to administer vaccines at the appropriate time when the vaccine becomes available. And we've also talked to the Biden team about our commitment to work with them in terms of ensuring that we work together to make healthcare more accessible and more affordable.

Margaret Brennan4:48

Okay, because when the vice president, the president-elect, said that he doesn't fully endorse the plan to use commercial retailers, grocery stores, pharmacies to distribute because he thinks underserved communities will be overlooked, do you think there is a blind spot there?

Larry Merlo5:07

Margaret, for us there is not. As I mentioned, 70% of the population lives within a few miles of a CVS pharmacy, and we have worked with state officials in terms of bringing testing to underserved communities where we may not have a CVS pharmacy today.

Margaret Brennan5:24

Okay. How stretched are you when it comes to testing demand now? I know if I'm asymptomatic, I can't get a test.

Larry Merlo5:33

Yeah, Margaret, we have come a long way from that very first testing site in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, back in March. We now have 4,300 testing sites, most at CVS Pharmacy drive-through locations. We have seen the demand for testing increase substantially over the last 10 days, and we're continuing to roll out additional testing sites. We'll have more than 5,000 within the next two or three weeks, including about 1,000 point-of-care testing sites where we'll use the antigen test that will provide real-time results in about 30 minutes. And customers can go to CVS.com, put in their zip code, and find a testing site that's nearest to them.

Margaret Brennan6:15

But if you haven't had contact with someone who's COVID positive and you're not sick yourself, can I still go in and get a test?

Larry Merlo6:24

You can. And we have leveraged our digital capabilities where we've created a seamless experience for customers to fill out a simple questionnaire, and that will determine their eligibility to schedule an appointment for a COVID test.

Margaret Brennan6:39

All right, Mr. Merlo, thank you very much.