Pa. pharmacy board broadens access to COVID-19 shots
Around 80% of vaccines in the state are administered by pharmacies.
By JACK TROY
TribLive
Pennsylvanians seeking a COVID-19 shot from their pharmacist no longer need a prescription after the state Board of Pharmacy changed its policies Wednesday.
State law requires pharmacists to administer vaccines in line with guidance from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency’s immunization committee has yet to recommend the latest COVID-19 shots, which target a newer strain of the ever-evolving virus.
This inaction comes as federal Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. packs the committee with vaccine skeptics, “leaving many concerns about the integrity of this review process,” said Robert Bonacci, a special advisor to Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Debra Bogen.
The only workaround was for patients to present a prescription. But on Wednesday afternoon, the Board of Pharmacy voted unanimously at a special meeting to approve additional authorities that pharmacists can consult for vaccine guidance.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which authorized the updated shots last month, was named an acceptable authority. So were three professional medical associations: The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
The American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists submitted letters to the board vouching for their vaccine recommendation process.
All four of these organizations endorse the latest COVID-19 vaccines.
Gov. Josh Shapiro took credit for demanding the Board of Pharmacy meet on the matter.
“Health care decisions should be up to individuals — not the federal government and certainly not RFK Jr.,” Shapiro said in a statement. “My administration will continue to protect health care access for all Pennsylvanians.”
Pharmacists must still follow Food and Drug Administration guidance that limits COVID-19 vaccines to people 65 and older and younger people with risk factors for severe illness.
Around 80% of vaccines in the state are administered by pharmacies.
Grace Sesi, executive director of regulatory affairs for CVS, told the board the pharmacy chain supported widening COVID-19 vaccine access. CVS has the vaccine on hand and is ready to administer it, she added.
As of Tuesday, Pennsylvania was one of 13 states — plus Washington, D.C. — where CVS would not give the COVID-19 vaccine without a prescription. It was not offering the shot whatsoever in three other states.
Walgreens did not immediately return a request for comment.
Michael Rothholz, former chief of governance and state affiliates for the American Pharmacists Association, said some of these states have already taken steps to change relevant regulations and enable greater vaccine access.
Heather Sakely, UPMC’s pharmacy director, also expressed support for the measures, citing the burden placed on patients and doctors in obtaining prescriptions.
A handful of Pennsylvania Democrats, including Rep. Arvind Venkat, D-McCandless, are crafting a bill that would empower the state Department of Health to decide which vaccines pharmacists can administer.
Venkat, a doctor, told TribLive he has to review the Board of Pharmacy’s decision, but will likely still introduce the bill.
