By Leroy Leo

(Reuters) -CVS Health Corp said Wednesday that it expects a 70 to 80% decrease in COVID-19 vaccinations administered by drugstores this year. It also stated 2022 profits would come from its pharmacy benefit management and health insurance businesses.

The shares of the company plunged more than 4 percent in early trading, after it left unchanged its 2022 earnings outlook despite exceeding profit expectations for the fourth quarter.

CVS spoke out during a conference phone call discussing fourth quarter results. These numbers were higher than Wall Street’s estimates of profit and sales.

It operates the U.S.’s largest drugstore chain. The company also manages benefits for employees and plans, and is the owner of Aetna, a health insurance. They expect a 40 to 50 percent drop in COVID-19 testing at their stores. According to the company, it anticipates modest growth of over-the-counter testing kits in the full year.

CVS reported that CVS administered COVID-19 booster doses in the fourth quarter, which was more than it expected in 2022. This helped drive an almost 13% rise in retail sales. This was also an important factor in the decline of its 2022 forecast.

Although some countries, such as Israel, have started giving fourth doses of vaccines to their citizens; CVS does not plan on relying on booster shots for its growth.

Shawn Guertin (CFO) stated on the conference call that the outlook did not anticipate any effect from the administration of the fourth COVID-19 booster.

“As such we anticipate that COVID-19 vaccines’ contribution to the first six months of 2019 will be greater.”

The fourth quarter saw a surge in demand for COVID-19 vaccines from CVS shops, up more than 10 million from the previous quarter. This was due to the U.S. booster shot program.

It administered more than 8 million COVID-19 test results, which was largely the same as what it did in its third quarter.

CVS’ sales and profit beat in the quarter was “more pronounced, due to stale and overly conservative estimates that didn’t align with guidance,” said Baird analyst Eric Coldwell.

CVS reported a $1.98 share after excluding certain items. This beat analysts’ expectations by 5 cents according Refinitiv data.

From $36.36 billion, sales in its pharmacy services division, which also includes the pharmacy benefit administration business, rose to $39.34Billion.

The total revenue grew 10% to $76.60 Billion, surpassing estimates of $75.67 Billion.