LARRY MERLO

CVS on Monday touted its nationwide progress vaccinating residents and workers in long-term care facilities against COVID-19. The drugstore chain announced it has administered its entire batch — some 2 million shots — of first doses in the nearly 8,000 nursing homes working with CVS. Critics say the vaccine rollout to long-term care residents has been ill-planned and mismanaged, raising the death toll. For assisted living facilities, CVS says it has completed first doses in just 11 states. "We should have had all the nursing care homes vaccinated by now.

CVS Health and Walgreens said Wednesday they are on track to complete the first round of Covid vaccine shots at nursing homes across the country by Jan. 25. The federal government partnered with the two pharmacy chains to administer the shots to residents and staff in long-term care facilities. Public health and state officials have prioritized the long-term care facilities because they have been especially hard-hit by coronavirus outbreaks and deaths. CVS and Walgreens began inoculations at long-term care facilities in a few states on Dec. 18. West Virginia has not opted in to the federal program for Covid vaccinations at long-term care facilities.

A worker collects shopping carts at a Walmart store on May 19, 2020 in Chicago, Illinois. Walmart is getting ready to administer Covid-19 vaccinations across the country once a vaccine is approved, the company's chief medical officer said Thursday. Walmart is one of several companies gearing up for coronavirus vaccines, especially as the much-awaited doses get closer to approval and availability in the U.S. Walmart is also thinking through a process to help people keep track of their first and second doses of the vaccine. Gilder said Walmart already has health-care staff who administer millions of doses of other vaccines.

Health-care workers and residents and staff at long-term care facilities should be the first in line for the Covid-19 vaccines, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Merlo said the company has 10,000 health care professionals ready to administer the shots in nursing homes and assisted living centers. And, he added, it has experience giving seasonal flu shots at long-term care facilities. The government struck a deal in October with CVS and Walgreens to administer the coronavirus vaccinations to residents and staff at long-term care facilities across the country. Over 40,000 long-term care facilities across the U.S. have selected CVS to administer vaccinations at their long-term care facilities.

CVS Health shares jumped higher than broader indexes. More recently, CVS health has started opening stores it calls “HealthHubs” that have dietitians and are geared toward helping customers monitor chronic conditions like diabetes and stay on top of their health. She came to CVS Health when Aetna was acquired and served as an executive with another insurer, Cigna, before that. CVS Health will become the largest company in that group, topping General Motors, which is led by Mary Barra. CVS Health Corp., based in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, runs one of the nation’s largest drugstore chains with about 9,900 retail locations.

Change from last year: 338%Her pay vs typical company worker: 604 times, up from 165Overall ranking: No. Virginia M. RomettyIBM$19.1 millionChange from last year: 9%Her pay vs typical company worker: 354 times, up from 319Overall ranking: 57___5. David ZaslavDiscovery$45.8 millionChange from last year: -65%His pay vs typical company worker: 578 times, down from 1,511Overall ranking: No. Shantanu NarayenAdobe Inc.$39.1 millionChange from last year: 38%His pay vs typical company worker: 266 times, up from 200Overall ranking: No. Larry J. MerloCVS Health$36.5 millionChange from last year: 66%His pay vs typical company worker: 790 times, up from 618Overall ranking: No.

Months and even years from now, leaders of CVS Health say the coronavirus pandemic may still shape how customers shop and use health care and influence how it operates its own business. The company's chief operating fficer, Jonathan Roberts, said customers may want health care delivered differently because of the pandemic. The pandemic may inspire CVS to offer new and different kinds of testing, Merlo said. During the pandemic, the company has opened and staffed drive-thru testing sites for Covid-19. And, as researchers try to develop vaccines and treatments for Covid-19, Merlo said CVS is ready to provide another service.

A man directs vehicles as they arrive at a rapid COVID-19 testing site in Lowell, MA on April 07, 2020. Walmart, Target, Walgreens and CVS committed to hosting numerous drive-thru test sites in parking lots across the country. In a call with reporters in mid-March, Walmart's Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs Dan Bartlett said the opening of more test sites has been delayed by supply issues. CVS has a total of five testing sites in five different states: Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan and Rhode Island. They are using Abbott Laboratories' rapid testing device, which allows patients to get test results in minutes.

CVS Health Chief Executive Larry Merlo said a lack of personal protective equipment has slowed the widespread rollout of its drive-thru tests for the coronavirus and limited the number of tests that sites are able to do. Workers at the drive-thru tests must wear gowns, masks and gloves as they swab a patient for a sample. Target has not yet announced when test sites may open near its stores. Thus far, all of the test sites are limited to first responders and health care workers. Walmart's and Walgreens' sites are staffed by government workers.

CVS Health on Wednesday reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat Wall Street's expectations, boosted by higher sales in its pharmacy benefit management business. Same-store sales rose 3.2% during the quarter, with sales in its pharmacy unit up 4.1%, CVS reported. The company's pharmacy unit reported revenue of $37 billion during the three months ended Dec. 31. It's retail segment, which includes general merchandise and prescription refills, reported revenue of $22.5 billion, slightly above what it made last year. Shares of CVS Health are down half a percent so far this year, but have risen more than 13% over the last 12 months.

CVS set to reportCVS Health will report fourth quarter earnings before the bell on Wednesday. Analysts polled by FactSet are expecting the health care and retail pharmacy company to report earnings per share of $1.68 on revenue of $63.9 billion. Cisco earningsNetworking hardware company Cisco Systems will report fiscal second quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday. Analysts polled by FactSet are expecting earnings of 83 cents per share on revenue of $11.974 billion. After management significantly lowered expectations last quarter, Piper Sandler is expecting a "typical" Cisco quarter where the company slightly beats estimates.

CNBC's Jim Cramer warned the recent gains in Alphabet could be short lived when the company reports earnings in coming weeks. The "Mad Money" host broke down the movements in other stocks that he said aren't "momentum" based. Later in the show he sat down with GlaxonSmithKline CEO Emma Walmsley and CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo as he attends the J. P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco. It's based on nothing fundamental, just the momentum that we see in so many tech names," the "Mad Money" host said. That's 12 [updated stores] a week with a trajectory of 1,500 hubs by the end of 2021."

"Primary care needs to be moved to this kind of empowered care, and not just engagement." Virtual primary care plansSome of the newest primary care models won't be relying on physical locations at all. Just like urgent care clinic providers, telehealth services are trying to get into the business of more long-term services with virtual primary care. It is offering a virtual primary care employer plan with insurer Humana, and has also partnered with Walmart on a new video-based primary care service that the retailer is offering workers in Colorado, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The premise is that the convenience will appeal to younger workers, who often don't have a relationship with primary care physicians.

CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo raised concerns Thursday over the teen vaping crisis and the longterm health risks. "We don't know the longitudinal effect of these products," Merlo told CNBC's "Squawk Box." Flavored e-cigarettes have fueled what government regulators are calling a teen vaping epidemic, with data showing that more than five million U.S. teenagers are now vaping, with many preferring flavors. Merlo said he saw signs that something was wrong with vaping in 2014, around the same time that CVS stopped selling tobacco products at its drug stores. "Five years later and we see the question raised," Merlo added, reiterating comments he made last month to CNBC's Jim Cramer that health officials need to reverse the teen-use trend.