CVS requires prescription for covid shots in Pa. amid federal vaccine turmoil

CVS is requiring prescriptions for covid-19 shots in Pennsylvania because of delays on a federal panel that recommends vaccines.

The new requirement reflects uncertainty over the nation’s vaccine policy under the Trump administration.

Such turmoil has led several Democratic Pennsylvania lawmakers to explore whether they can put more power in the hands of the state to authorize vaccines.

The federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has yet to recommend covid shots, despite respiratory illness season fast approaching.

Pennsylvania is one of 16 states — along with Washington, D.C. — that allows pharmacists to administer only vaccines that are approved by the committee, according to Amy Thibault, a CVS spokeswoman.

There are exceptions in 13 states plus the capital for patients who present a valid prescription. CVS is not offering covid-19 vaccines in Massachusetts, Nevada or New Mexico whatsoever.

Walgreens did not return a request for comment on its policies. The New York Times reported last week the drugstore is requiring prescriptions in 16 states, though not Pennsylvania.

CVS has about 500 stores in Pennsylvania. Walgreens has roughly 100.

The committee is slated to meet Sept. 18, but it’s no rubber stamp for vaccines.

In June, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. removed all 17 members. He then named eight new members, many of them profoundly skeptical of vaccines. One member, Retsef Levi, has called covid-19 shots the “most failing medical product in the history of medical products.”

The American Medical Association, meanwhile, issued an open letter in June that called vaccines for covid and other respiratory viruses “among the best tools to protect the public against those illnesses” and joined with dozens of other medical groups to reaffirm “our commitment to these lifesaving vaccines.”

Under Kennedy, the Food and Drug Administration has also restricted covid-19 vaccines set to roll out this fall to people 65 and older and younger people with risk factors for severe illness.

Instead of waiting for the committee’s decision, some Pennsylvania Democrats want approval for pharmacists to administer vaccines to hinge on the state Department of Health.

State Reps. Arvind Venkat, D-McCandless; Tarik Khan, D-Philadelphia County; Bridget Kosierowski, D-Lackawanna County; and Jennifer O’Mara, D-Delaware County, say they’re crafting a bill that would do just that.

Venkat, Bridget and Khan also introduced a bill last month that would require private insurers to cover vaccines recommended by Pennsylvania’s Health Department.

“I think all of us would prefer if the federal government was more responsible in terms of its public health authorities and expertise,” Venkat, a doctor, told TribLive on Tuesday. “But we are where we are today.”

Gov. Josh Shapiro may also be able to temporarily widen access to the covid-19 vaccine through executive action. He said on social media Friday his administration is “reviewing all of our options to ensure Pennsylvanians have access to the health care they want and will have more to say soon.”

His office did not return a request for comment.

Another way to bypass federal regulators could come through the Pennsylvania State Board of Pharmacy.

Its Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs will meet Wednesday afternoon in Philadelphia to consider whether approval from several U.S. medical associations could substitute for a federal recommendation.