The CVS store at 720 Boston Turnpike in Shrewsbury is being set up as a coronavirus screening site for medical workers and first responders starting Thursday.
The Route 9 site will serve as a pilot for the rest of the CVS chain, which has more than 9,900 retail locations across the United States, according to company spokesman Joe Goode. The Woonsocket, R.I., company hasn’t yet decided when it may roll out the screening to the general public or to other locations.
A large tent and smaller structures were being set up Wednesday with Shrewsbury police officers stationed at both parking lot entrances.
CVS set up the screening site in coordination with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Public Health Service, and the Gov. Charlie Baker Administration.
“It’s important to understand that this is our first site, which means there will likely be issues that arise,” CVS said in a statement. “Those issues will be addressed immediately and inform the opening of other sites — in CVS Pharmacy parking lots and elsewhere. The goal is to serve as a model for testing.”
CVS’s screening comes a day after UMass Memorial Medical Center began screening referred patients at its University Campus in Worcester. Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester and MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham have set up temporary tents outside their emergency departments, not for coronavirus screening but for added emergency capacity if needed.
