Fees Are Up, Demand Is Down—Two Reasons You Should Be Pushing COVID-19 Vaccination

As with testing supplies early on in the pandemic, most urgent care operators have had a hard time getting their hands on enough doses of COVID-19 vaccine to really make a difference in their communities. That could be changing in the near future, however, as multiple states are reporting that the demand for COVID-19 vaccines is waning—leaving them with the unexpected challenge of ensuring that their supply is put to good use while it’s viable. This is backed up by new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that out of 321.6 million doses of vaccine that have been delivered, only 249.6 million have been administered. One possible solution is to distribute more of the vaccines to smaller, community health centers—such as urgent care locations—as opposed to mega sites that originally drew thousands of eager patients. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the launch of the COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund (CAF), under which the per-dose administration fee for providing the vaccine has been increased to $40 (up from $16.94 or $28.39, depending on which dose and which vaccine was given). These two factors present an opportunity for urgent care operators to have a more active role in fighting the pandemic while also generating more revenue than was possible previously. HHS has set up a dedicated support line for information on the CAF; you can reach it at (833) 967-0770.