Pharmacy

Four million doses are expected to go out this week and 20 million doses by the end of March.

Providers may seek federal reimbursement for costs incurred for COVID-19 testing or vaccines to those who are uninsured.

The order is to correct a lesson learned from COVID-19 on dependence on countries such as China for PPE supplies.

Executives say they also need more funding and better reporting efficiency across states.

2020 was rough, but based on FY 2021 Q1 earnings report figures, prospects for the coming year seem much better.

This week's top stories include Google Cloud rolling out a vaccine distribution tool, the federal government sending one million COVID-19 vaccine doses directly to 6,500 pharmacies, and a security breach at Montefiore Medical Center.

Following authorization, Johnson & Johnson says it expects to supply 100 million doses to the U.S. in the first half of 2021.

One of the vaccines being distributed by COVAX, from AstraZeneca, has 76% efficacy after one dose and 82% efficacy after two.   

Budgets continue to be impacted by the increased use of high-cost drugs and critical care drugs for coronavirus patients.

This is in addition to the 10.5 million doses earmarked for states, tribes and territories.