  We use geospatial data to examine the unprecedented national program
currentlyunderway in the United States to distribute and administer vaccines
against COVID-19. We quantify the impact of the proposed federal partnership
with the companyDollar General to serve as vaccination sites and compare
vaccine access with DollarGeneral to the current Federal Retail Pharmacy
Partnership Program. Although dollarstores have been viewed with skepticism and
controversy in the policy sector, we showthat, relative to the locations of the
current federal program, Dollar General stores aredisproportionately likely to
be located in Census tracts with high social vulnerability;using these stores
as vaccination sites would greatly decrease the distance to vaccinesfor both
low-income and minority households. We consider a hypothetical
alternativepartnership with Dollar Tree and show that adding these stores to
the vaccinationprogram would be similarly valuable, but impact different
geographic areas than theDollar General partnership. Adding Dollar General to
the current pharmacy partnersgreatly surpasses the goal set by the Biden
administration of having 90% of the popu-lation within 5 miles of a vaccine
site. We discuss the potential benefits of leveragingthese partnerships for
other vaccinations, including against influenza.
