Jan 7, 2022 - Health

COVID tests and vaccines lift Walgreens' profits

Bob Herman

A blue sign inside a Walgreens pharmacy advertising COVID booster shots. — Walgreens administered 56 million COVID shots in 2021. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Walgreens increased profit projections for the rest of its fiscal year due to surging demand for at-home COVID-19 tests, drive-thru tests and vaccinations amid the latest outbreaks.

The big picture: Pharmacy chains continue to reap massive financial gains from the pandemic, as they often serve as the first place people go when they need a COVID test or vaccine.

By the numbers: In 2021, Walgreens employees administered 56 million COVID vaccines and conducted 23 million COVID tests.

Sales in health and wellness products in the most recent quarter were up 25% year over year, stemming almost entirely from people buying rapid tests.

Yes, but: All of this demand, as well as the highly transmissible Omicron variant, is crushing Walgreens' workforce.

Executives said there have been staffing shortages, which have prompted some stores to reduce their hours.
Walgreens' pharmacists also are having a difficult time keeping up with both filling prescriptions and giving COVID vaccines, so "there's been a high level of stress in the system," CFO James Kehoe said on a conference call.

Go deeper: Pharmacists are at a breaking point

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COVID tests and vaccines lift Walgreens' profits

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