CVS Expects Demand for Covid Tests and Shots to Fade as Cases Ebb
- Omicron strain caused a spike in sales at company’s drugstores
- Questions about pharmacies’ future are returning to the fore
A cotton swab from a Covid-19 lateral flow self-test kit.
Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
CVS Health Corp. said demand for Covid-19 tests and vaccines is expected to fade this year, eroding a source of growth that helped insulate it from other pressures on its business.
The drugstore giant expects to administer about half as many virus tests and up to 80% fewer shots this year compared with 2021, it said in a news release Wednesday announcing its fourth-quarter financial results. Testing and vaccinations were responsible for almost half of CVS’s retail growth last year, it said.