'Out to lunch': CVS pharmacies will start shutting down for lunch breaks later this month

"Out to Lunch."

That might be the surprising sign you'll see at CVS pharmacies beginning later this month.

The pharmacy giant has announced most of its pharmacies will begin closing 1:30-2 p.m. every day to give its pharmacists a "predictable and consistent daily pause."

The new daily half-hour closure is intended to give its pharmacy employees a prescheduled, uninterrupted lunch break, CVS said in a statement.

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While the new schedule goes into effect nationwide starting Feb. 28, CVS said, some stores already have been affected by the new hours. CVS is notifying customers if and when their local store's hours are changing due to the new policy, the statement said.

It's unclear how many Florida locations will be affected by the new hours.

For some CVS customers, though, lunchtime pharmacy closings might seem like the latest change at their corner drugstore, since widespread closures have loomed for the chain over the past year.

The pharmacy giant has announced most of its pharmacies will begin closing 1:30-2 p.m. every day to give its pharmacists a "predictable and consistent daily pause."

CVS announced last year it would close 900 stores — about 10% of its locations — over the next three years. This comes as the company has shifted towards selling health care and clinical products while competing with online retailers such as Amazon.

Both CVS and Walgreens temporarily closed some stores in January due to staff shortages during the surge in omicron variant COVID-19 cases. During the surge, some CVS locations were temporarily closed one or both days of the weekend.

Customers with questions about their local store hours can call CVS customer service, 800-746-7287.

Thomas Weber is a Digital Now Reporter at TCPalm. You can reach him at thomas.weber@tcpalm.com or 813-545-9113. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: CVS to close pharmacies from 1:30-2 every day for lunch breaks