CVS Health to administer COVID-19 vaccines in six more states

Feb 24 (Reuters) - CVS Health Corp said on Wednesday it will administer COVID-19 vaccines in six additional states, making about 570,000 doses available across a total of 17 states from Feb. 25.

The U.S. drugstore chain said it has added Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania to its list of states where CVS pharmacy stores will offer COVID-19 vaccinations through the U.S. government's Federal Retail Pharmacy Program.

CVS has been giving the vaccines at its pharmacies in California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia, as well as in several long-term care facilities.

About 44.5 million people in the United States had received at least one dose of the two-shot vaccines developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE or Moderna Inc

, as of Tuesday morning.

U.S. demand for COVID-19 vaccines far outpaces supply, but drugmakers told Congress on Tuesday that supplies should surge in the coming weeks due to manufacturing expansions and new vaccine authorizations.

(Reporting by Vishwadha Chander in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

((Vishwadha.Chander@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780, outside U.S. +91 80 6749 6132;))