New Yorkers who want to get the updated COVID-19 vaccine will need a prescription to get one at CVS pharmacies, officials said Friday.
The vaccines are expected to be delivered to pharmacies on Long Island and across the state in the coming days, but federal health officials are no longer recommending them to everyone over 6 months old.
CVS, the nation’s largest pharmacy chain, said in a statement that in 14 states, including New York, it would administer the FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines to patients “if they present an authorized prescriber’s prescription,” until a federal vaccine advisory panel makes a recommendation next month. That applies to those over 65, a CVS spokeswoman wrote in an email.
On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration authorized three updated COVID-19 vaccines for people 65 and over as well as those with underlying health conditions such as high blood pressure, asthma and obesity.
Other people can get the vaccine after consulting with their doctors, according to a social media post from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
It’s unclear what that would entail for healthy adults under the age of 65 and children as respiratory virus season looms. September and October are the prime time for people to receive COVID-19 and influenza vaccinations.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) is scheduled to meet Sept. 18-19. That panel usually makes recommendations on vaccines for the general public and can be pivotal in whether health insurance companies pay for the vaccine.
But the current upheaval at the CDC following the firing of its latest director could also have an impact. Health professionals expressed concerns in June when Kennedy, a longtime vaccine critic, fired all members of the ACIP and replaced them with appointees who have also publicly expressed skeptical views of vaccines.
Dr. Eve Meltzer Krief, a pediatrician at Allied Physician Group’s Huntington Village Pediatrics, said she has not received any information about changes to the way vaccines are delivered to children.
“I think we are waiting to see if insurance companies will cover the vaccine according to the American Academy of Pediatrics guidance recommending children 6 months to 2 years get the vaccine,” she said.
Meltzer Krief said documenting high-risk conditions such as asthma will be “cumbersome and not efficient particularly at this late date.”
Nidhin Mohan, owner and supervising pharmacist at New Island Pharmacy in Deer Park, said he has not yet heard anything about the need for prescriptions or other limitations but doesn’t expect any issues with supply since he can order directly from Pfizer and other pharmaceutical firms.
Walgreens, the nation’s second largest pharmacy chain, did not respond to requests for comment.
Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.
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