Patients living in middle-income areas were most likely to receive Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, and most doses were administered at retail pharmacies. Researchers shared their findings on patient characteristics in a poster at AMCP 2022.

Authors sought to “increase understanding of COVID-19 vaccination uptake at Walgreens pharmacies and pharmacists-led sites, such as long-term care facilities, by examining trends of mRNA-1273 administration including patient characteristics and regional distribution.”

The retrospective descriptive analysis involved data from adult patients who received their first dose of the Moderna vaccine at Walgreens and outreach sites. Patients were excluded if they received other COVID-19 vaccines, were younger than 18 years of age, or opted out of the research.

Between December 18, 2020, and November 2, 2021, 4,515,988 patients received at least 1 dose of the Moderna vaccine. Data indicated patients “were on average White, nonHispanic, female, and 49 years of age (18-120).”

Puerto Rico had the highest proportion of Walgreens patients who sought the Moderna vaccine (20%), followed by West Virginia (14.6%), North Carolina (11.8%), Delaware (11.5%), and Washington, DC (10.9%). Additionally, patients were vaccinated at a rate of 11.3% in areas with a high social vulnerability index, and 26.5% in areas with a low social vulnerability index.

Findings also indicated 35.9% of Walgreens patients in rural areas received at least one dose of the Moderna vaccine, compared to 59.1% of patients living in middle-income areas. Most doses are given in retail pharmacies (75.9%) as opposed to long-term care facilities (13.9%) and other sites.

“Pharmacists are playing an instrumental role in the distribution of the mRNA-1273 vaccine across the United States,” researchers concluded. “Further research is needed to determine how patients who are vaccinated in US pharmacies differ from people who have not yet received a first dose, factors impacting series completion rates, and if there are differences between early and late adopters.”

Reference:
Roberts E, Shah A, Smith-Ray R, et al. Descriptive analysis of patients receiving Moderna COVID-19 vaccinations from a large national pharmacy. Poster presented at: AMCP 2022; March 29-April 1, 2022; Chicago, IL.