[April 27, 2012]

Walgreens Offering Pertussis (Whooping Cough) Vaccine at All of Its 275 Points of Care Across Arizona

As health officials in Arizona are urging residents to make sure they're vaccinated against pertussis, or whooping cough, Walgreens (NYSE: WAG)(NASDAQ: WAG) is offering immunizations that provide protection against the highly-contagious respiratory infection (tetanus/diphtheria/pertussis-Tdap vaccine) at all of its more than 275 points of care throughout the state. Immunizations are available daily with no appointment necessary at all Arizona Walgreens pharmacies and Take Care Clinics.

Walgreens pharmacists in Arizona can administer the vaccine to protect against whooping cough to patients age 7-17 with a prescription, and to those age 18 and older without a prescription. Take Care Clinics, located at 28 Walgreens in Maricopa and Pima counties, can administer the vaccine to those over 10.

"We share in the recommendations of health officials that one of the best things people can do to keep themselves and their families healthy during a possible outbreak is to get vaccinated," said Laura Zimmerly, Arizona market pharmacy director for Walgreens. "In addition to children, who are the most vulnerable, those who care for or are in contact with children should also be immunized. We hope thatthrough greater access to immunizations, we can keep our communities healthy and help limit the spread of the virus."

The Maricopa County Department of Public Health reported a 41 percent increase in its number of whooping cough cases in 2011 over the previous year and more than double the number of cases reported in 2009. The department is now working to educate residents about the importance of immunizations that can protect against pertussis and other vaccine-preventable diseases, as part of National Infant Immunization Week and also in the wake of the county's first reported pertussis-related death of an infant since 2009.

For the latest pertussis immunization recommendations for children and adults, as well as vaccine information, visit the Arizona Department of Health Services website at www.azdhs.gov.

About Walgreens

As the nation's largest drugstore chain with fiscal 2011 sales of $72 billion, Walgreens (www.walgreens.com) vision is to become America's first choice for health and daily living. Each day, Walgreens provides nearly 6 million customers the most convenient, multichannel access to consumer goods and services and trusted, cost-effective pharmacy, health and wellness services and advice in communities across America. Walgreens scope of pharmacy services includes retail, specialty, infusion, medical facility and mail service, along with respiratory services. These services improve health outcomes and lower costs for payers including employers, managed care organizations, health systems, pharmacy benefit managers and the public sector. The company operates 7,847 drugstores in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Take Care Health Systems is a Walgreens subsidiary that is the largest and most comprehensive manager of worksite health and wellness centers and in-store convenient care clinics, with more than 700 locations throughout the country.

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