Vaccinations, tests give Walgreens a boost in first quarter

COVID-19 vaccines and testing boosted Walgreens store sales growth to its highest level in more than two decades, as the drugstore chain beat fiscal first-quarter expectations

COVID-19 vaccines and testing boosted Walgreens store sales growth to levels not seen in more than two decades, pushing the drugstore chain well above Wall Street expectations for the first quarter.

Walgreens doled out 15.6 million vaccines in the quarter that ended in November 30, up 16% from the previous quarter, as more Americans sought booster shots. Also, federal regulators expanded eligibility for Pfizer’s vaccine to children ages 5 to 12.

The company administered 6.5 million COVID-19 tests in the first quarter, which ended before the omicron variant of the virus sent case numbers soaring in the United States and stoked the need for testing even higher. Sales from Walgreens’ established U.S. stores shot up more than 10% compared to the previous year’s fiscal quarter, which ended before mass vaccine distribution began.

That was the highest level of growth in more than 20 years, according to the company based just outside of Chicago in Deerfield, Illinois.