U.S. COVID vaccine program enters new phase as feds deliver jabs directly to drug store chains MarketWatch 2/12/2021 CORONAVIRUS UPDATE The U.S. vaccine program will enter a new phase Friday when the federal government starts to deliver doses directly to drugstore chains and pharmacies, in an effort to get more jabs into arms as new variants of the virus continue to spread. The initial plan is to send a million doses to 6,500 pharmacies, White House officials said this week. The program is expected to greatly expand the number of sites that offer vaccines and speed up the overall program.