Apr 26, 2021

Walgreens

Vaccinating the vulnerable

Jamie Ducharme

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Jamie Ducharme

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Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.

Rosalind Brewer, CEO of Walgreens, speaks in Seattle, Washington on Mar. 20, 2019.

Rosalind Brewer, CEO of Walgreens, speaks in Seattle, Washington on Mar. 20, 2019.Jason Redmond—AFP/Getty Images

At the end of last year, 35,000 long-term-care facilities in the U.S. asked Walgreens for help vaccinating their uniquely vulnerable residents against COVID-19. That task turned out to be just the beginning for the pharmacy chain, which, as of April 16, had administered more than 11.6 million vaccine doses in total, albeit not without some scheduling hiccups; it also partnered with PayPal and Uber to offer funding for free rides to vaccination sites. In March, Walgreens reached a milestone of a different sort, when Rosalind “Roz” Brewer assumed the company’s top job and became the only Black woman to currently lead a Fortune 500 company.