CVS pharmacies face another staff walkout as wait times for COVID vaccines grow

Last week, more than a dozen CVS Pharmacy locations around the Kansas City metro area temporarily closed after pharmacists walked out on the job. On Wednesday, with no solution in sight, the walkouts are expected to continue.

The uprising from pharmacists and employees should come as no surprise, as the pharmacy industry has been under immense strain for years. Pharmacists at chains like CVS and Walgreens say they are seriously understaffed and have an ever-increasing number of prescriptions to dole out. They are also responsible for administering vaccines—a need that multiplied with the COVID-19 pandemic—on top of their normal everyday tasks.

Pharmacists say they are desperately overwhelmed. They also feel that their unreasonable workload has made CVS pharmacies far less safe and reliable for patients. An anonymous employee told local news outlet KCTV that with just one pharmacist on duty, the workload has become dangerous. The employee claimed that pharmacists are expected to give more than 100 vaccinations in a day, and in some cases, up to 15 per hour.

Last night, executives arrived in the area to meet with pharmacists, staff, and walkout organizers in hopes of avoiding future walkouts. After said meetings, Prem Shah, CVS Health’s chief pharmacy officer and president of consumer wellness, issued a memo to staff, apologizing for not taking concerns seriously before employees decided to fight back.

“With the currently unprecedented demand for vaccinations from our patients in mind, we are taking a series of actions effective immediately,” Shah wrote. “Those steps included providing ‘additional resources’ to stores, adjusting appointments, filling open positions and removing unnecessary tasks for pharmacists.” The American Pharmacists Association also issued a statement on Tuesday evening, saying the “APhA stands with pharmacists in ensuring a safe patient care environment.”

The memos and the meetings appear to have done little to alleviate employee concerns, as plans for another walkout on Wednesday are in full swing.

While the public seems supportive of pharmacies addressing staffing issues, the walkouts couldn’t come at a worse time, given patients are already having to wait for COVID and flu vaccines, and in some cases, are being asked to come back the following day.

In his memo, Shah pledged to stay in Kansas City until “the market needs are addressed.”