Giant Pharmacy offering COVID vaccines, along with CVS and Safeway
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| The CVS at 7205 Little River Turnpike in Annandale. |
Giant Pharmacy is now administering COVID-19 vaccinations to people who registered with the Fairfax County Health Department.
Just four Giant stores are participating:
- 7501 Huntsman Blvd, Springfield.
- 6364A Springfield Plaza, Springfield.
- 5740 Union Mill Road, Clifton.
- 5870 Kingstowne Blvd. Alexandria
As of Feb. 23, some people who registered with the Fairfax County Health Department and are on the waitlist have been asked to make an appointment at one of those stores. Walk-ins are not allowed. You can’t sign up through Giant; you have to register with the Health Department.
Other Giant locations are expected to be added later.
The Health Department is already partnering with Inova Health System, George Mason University, and Trusted Doctors to get eligible people vaccinated. My Dr.’s Pharmacy in Herndon was added to that list Feb. 23.
Unlike those partners, Giant is using vaccines from the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, which is in addition to the vaccines the county Health Department is getting from the state’s allocation.
CVS and Safeway pharmacies are also offering COVID vaccinations to people age 65+ at certain stores through the federal program. People eligible for a vaccination have to register with those pharmacies separately.
Only three CVS stores in Northern Virginia, including the one on Little River Turnpike in Annandale, are providing COVID vaccinations. It’s extremely difficult to get an appointment as the website seems to always indicate all locations are fully booked.
Safeway is providing COVID vaccinations at the stores on 7414 Little River Turnpike in Annandale and 6118 Arlington Blvd. in Seven Corners, among other Northern Virginia locations. Like CVS, it’s difficult to book an appointment, but it might become easier as supplies increase.
Sadly, no matter what Fairfax County says, the fact is that covid vaccination is proceeding at a glacial pace. CVS, Giant, and Safeway vaccination registration sites have indicated for days and in some cases weeks that no covid vaccine appointments are available in Northern Virginia. It would be helpful to have at least a ballpark estimate of the time between registration for a covid vaccine on the County website and a vaccine appointment. Is it going to be one week, two weeks, a month, longer than that? Could we have a range, like "assuming vaccine supply is as planned, we expect to have everyone 65+ vaccinated by the end of Apri?"
I would love to hear from one real person in Northern Virginia who has gotten a vaccination at CVS and how they got the appointment. Some other states (Texas, Florida) were indicating today that they had appointments available lots of places. I check CVS often, and there are never appointments anywhere in Virgina.
A friend who lives in Hampton was getting a shot today from CVS. She said that CVS opens new slots every morning at 5 AM and they were gone very quickly.
Try the northern VA area Safeway sign ups. I was able to snag one for my dad and my MIL (both 65+) the other night. Never had luck with CVS.
I know someone who got an appointment at the Annandale/Fairfax CVS. She went online around 6 AM the first day you could sign up (2/9 I think), and got an appointment for 2/14.