Hannaford will join the ranks of large-scale pharmacies vaccinating the general public later this week, Maine’s top health officials announced Tuesday.
The supermarket chain will be offering doses to people above the age of 60 at 35 locations, using 3,500 Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccines, Maine Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew said. Those doses do not come from Maine’s allotment from the federal government but are part of a separate federal retail pharmacy program.
The chain is the third distributing vaccines to the general public: Walmart and subsidiary Sam’s Club and Walgreens have been added in recent weeks as the supply has slowly increased. Those entities will total 106 sites where people can get appointments that are not hospitals.
Lambrew said the state will work with the federal government to determine how stable the supply of Johnson & Johnson vaccines is. The company has promised 20 million doses by the end of March, roughly equating to 80,000 extra doses for Maine this month.
The companies have also been involved in the state’s efforts to vaccinate its long-term care facilities residents and staff. Interested participants can head to those company’s websites to learn how to schedule appointments.