NEW YORK — The fight against COVID-19 has reached a new stage as vaccines have become more available. And mass market retailers have stepped up to take a major role in administering the medicines, particularly in underserved communities.

CVS Health, for instance, recently nearly doubled the number of states where selected locations are offering vaccines through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program (FRPP). The health care giant is now administering vaccines in almost 1,200 locations across 29 states and Puerto Rico.

“We’re increasing the number of active stores and expanding to additional states as fast as supply allows, with the capacity to administer 20 million to 25 million shots per month,” said Karen Lynch, president and chief executive officer. “We’re also focused on priority populations, including vulnerable communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic as well as teachers and school support staff.”

More than 600 of the locations in 17 states will be CVS pharmacies within Target stores. In a blog post, the discounter said it will continue to work with CVS in coming months not only to administer vaccines but to support education efforts in communities of color that have been hit particularly hard by the pandemic.

Earlier this month Walgreens announced that it had performed approximately 5 million vaccinations in stores, long-term-care facilities and dedicated clinics. In addition, it has completed more than 60,000 clinics at long-term-care units, vaccinating the majority of residents and staff who chose to receive the vaccines.

“We’re now seeing steep declines in new COVID-19 cases and related deaths in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, demonstrating the remarkable impact these vaccines can have in this pandemic,” said John Standley, president of Walgreens.

At Kroger Co., the campaign against COVID-19 is carried out by Kroger Health, its dedicated health care division encompassing the company’s pharmacists, technicians, nutritionists and nurse practitioners. It has ramped up its capacity to administer vaccines by dedicating the first hour of pharmacy operations each day to administering the three vaccines that have been authorized by the Food and Drug Administration. Customers can also make appointments for vaccination at other times.

According to Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health, the goal is to administer 1 million vaccinations per week, and to achieve it the company will activate all the pharmacies and walk-in clinics within the company’s nationwide network.

“We’re here to collaborate with our existing federal and state partners, and we’re ready to work with other states to accelerate the vaccination of more Americans, leveraging our 2,250 pharmacies and 220 clinic locations,” she said. “We’re pleased with the continued increase of vaccine allocations and hopeful the additional inventory will speed up the rollout guidelines to create greater access for our frontline grocery workers.”

Like Kroger, Albertsons Cos. recently announced that it had passed the milestone of administering 1 million doses of vaccine. Like the other retailers cited, Albertsons Cos. is a member of the FRPP and is striving to bring access to vaccination to hard-to-reach populations and underserved communiities.