New York (CNN Business)CVS Health is hiring 15,000 more employees in addition to the 50,000 previously hired as it braces for an onslaught of more Covid-19 and flu cases.
The chain said Monday that more than 10,000 of the positions will be a mix of full-time and part-time positions for licensed pharmacy technicians. In addition to their normal duties, CVS (CVS) said that they can "help fill the urgent need to safely and quickly scale distribution" of a Covid-19 vaccine once it becomes available.
CVS regularly beefs up its staff every flu and holiday season, but it's hiring more than usual this year because of the virus. The company added that "many of the positions are temporary with the possibility of becoming permanent" and are searching for a variety of additional roles including nurses, member benefit case professionals and distribution center workers.
In March, the company said it was filling 50,000 positions nationwide as the virus began to spread. Those positions included "store associates, home delivery drivers, distribution center employees and member/customer service professionals."
It's unclear when a Covid-19 vaccine will become widely available in the United States. Pfizer said on Friday that its vaccine will probably not be available for emergency use until after the presidential election.
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) recently announced it had to pause trials for its vaccine after a volunteer got sick and AstraZeneca (AZN) was forced to halt its trials last month as well and there are lingering questions from regulators.
There are more than 8 million cases of coronavirus in the United States with roughly 220,000 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University count. Both numbers are expected to rise dramatically according to multiple experts.
