Who can get a COVID-19 vaccine?
In late August, the Food and Drug Administration approved updated COVID-19 vaccines for fall with the tightest access restrictions since they became available.
The FDA approved the Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax vaccines for all people 65 and older and for younger people with underlying health conditions that put them at high risk. However, it’s unclear what conditions are considered “high risk.”
For those not in the approved groups, whether or not they can still get a vaccine depends on where they live and what happens when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets later this month.
Typically, after the FDA issues its approval for a vaccine, the advisory committee makes a recommendation to the CDC that is then reviewed and approved — at which time the vaccine becomes part of the CDC’s formal immunization schedule. However, the usual process was disrupted when Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced all 17 members of the advisory committee with new picks, some with a history of anti-vaccine advocacy.
Some states need advisory committee and CDC recommendations in place before pharmacies can distribute vaccines, while others just need FDA approval.
Thirty-four states allow pharmacists to administer vaccines without an advisory committee recommendation, including Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
A prescription may be necessary in some cases, while in others, patients can self-attest to having an underlying condition that qualifies them for the vaccine.
Pharmacies are currently unable to administer COVID-19 vaccines in Massachusetts, Nevada and New Mexico, where state laws don't allow any pharmacists to give a vaccination not recommended by the advisory committee.
Until the committee issues its recommendation or designates an exception, people in 13 states and Washington, D.C., can get the COVID-19 vaccine at CVS only with an "authorized prescriber’s prescription": Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia. Walgreens told CBS News it was "prepared to offer the vaccine in states where we are able to do so."
It’s unknown how insurance companies will handle covering the COVID-19 vaccine amid changing guidance. If the advisory committee follows the FDA's recommendations, people younger than 65 who have no underlying health conditions may have to pay out of pocket for the vaccine, which averages about $140.
Read more: USA Today
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