The changes of the Trump administration in the guidelines on the Vaccine against COVID-19 and the delay of the vaccine advisory meeting are making vaccination in pharmacies of Washington, DC, Virginia and 12 other states difficult.
According to CVS, pharmacies of three other states cannot administer vaccines to anyone.
Last week, the US Food and Medicines Administration (FDA, in English) approved new vaccines against COVID-19 for autumn, but only for people over 65, as well as for children and adults with at least one medical condition that puts them at risk of serious illness.
The approval of the FDA is expected to be sent to the Vaccine Advisory Committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which will issue a recommendation on who should be able to get vaccinated.
In recent years, the members of said Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) presented their recommendations during the summer so that vaccines were available before autumn and winter.
However, the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., dismissed the 17 members of the ACIP in June, and their substitutes in the panel have not yet presented their recommendations.
A spokesman for the National CVS Pharmacies chain affirmed that this forces pharmacists of certain states to comply with state laws until ACIP approval.
While 34 states allow pharmacies to offer vaccines with the approval of the FDA, more than a dozen demand that patients have a medical recipe before receiving the vaccine against COVID-19 in a pharmacy. This was stated by Amy Thibault, Executive Director of CVS Communications, to News4 by email.
Tibault indicated that in three states pharmacies cannot administer vaccines without the approval of the ACIP.
In a statement to NBC News, a Walgreens spokesman said that the chain is prepared to offer vaccines against COVID-19 in the states “where we can do it”, but did not specify what states.
“According to the approval of the FDA and the state requirements, we will offer the vaccine to all adults over 65, as well as people under 65 with at least one underlying condition that puts them at high risk of serious consequences by COVID-19,” said the spokesman.
What states require a medical recipe to obtain the updated COVID vaccine in CVS pharmacies?
Table of Contents
- What states require a medical recipe to obtain the updated COVID vaccine in CVS pharmacies?
- What localities of CVS offer the Covid vaccine without a medical recipe?
- What states will not allow pharmacies to administer vaccines against COVID-19 without the approval of the ACIP?
- When will the ACIP meet?
- Will medical insurance cover vaccines against COVID-19?
DC, Virginia and 12 other states can administer patients, according to their age, the new vaccines approved by the FDA if they have a valid medical recipe, Tibault explained.
Other states include:
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- North Carolina
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Utah
- West Virginia
What localities of CVS offer the Covid vaccine without a medical recipe?
Maryland is among the 34 states where patients who meet the requirements can still go to a CVS pharmacy to obtain the vaccine without a medical recipe.
Here is the complete list of those states:
- Alabama
- Down
- Arkansa
- California
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Iowa
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Kansas
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Mississippi
- Montana
- Nebraska
- North Dakota
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- Ohio
- Oklahola
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Vermont
- Washington
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
What states will not allow pharmacies to administer vaccines against COVID-19 without the approval of the ACIP?
CVS said that vaccines cannot be provided in Massachusetts, Nevada or New Mexico without the approval of the ACIP.
“Once the ACIP acts on the updated COVID-19 vaccines or the states take additional measures to authorize the dispensing in pharmacies before the recommendations of the ACIP, we can offer vaccines against the COVID-19 approved by the FDA in the remaining states,” Tibault told News4.
When will the ACIP meet?
The ACIP plans to meet to talk about vaccines against COVID-19 and other vaccines on September 18 and 19, according to a public notice.
The meetings were scheduled in the middle of a great turbulence in the CDC. Director Susan Monarez was fired after refusing to resign under pressure. Shortly after, other senior managers resigned in protest for their dismissal.
Will medical insurance cover vaccines against COVID-19?
For people over 65, the FDA decision means that Medicare will cover vaccines.
For the rest of the people, the answer is still in development. Consult your insurer or the employer who provides coverage.
Employers and insurers have been covering the complete invoice of vaccines thanks to the recommendation of the ACIP.
Some may continue to do so. Walmart will cover vaccines for its employees and the Kaiser permanent health system, which provides coverage to more than 12 million people, says it will also continue to cover them.
Vaccines can cost $ 150 or more without insurance.
Insurers claim that they consider more than just the recommendation of the CDC committee by deciding coverage. Some could also consider the opinions of medical groups such as the American Medical Association, which strongly recommends vaccination.
The Associated Press and NBC News contributed to this report.
