Who can get a COVID vaccine—and how? It’s complicated.
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Thank you, Beth, for the overview, and for not pulling punches. Call out these assholes for what they are.
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This is less complicated if you live in Washington state.The Washington State DOH issued a standing order authorizing the administration of updated COVID-19 vaccines to all persons aged 6 months and older, including pregnant individuals.
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Across the Potomac in Virginia, I asked about the COVID vaccine yesterday. I'm nearly 60 and have both diabetes and asthma. They say that I will need to get a prescription from my doctor to get one.
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I really appreciate this article. Much of the coverage and discussion of this topic comes across with a lot more blame, fuzziness, and yelling than details that help readers understand the current state (not that yelling is not warranted here).
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As of just today, it's possible to get a vaccine in Colorado from a pharmacy without a prescription. Presumably, we were also previously tied to the ACIP recommendations.
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Hello fellow VA resident. CVS wouldn’t let me schedule an appointment but Walgreens did. Been about six hours and no cancellation yet. Might be worth a shot. If you’re close enough it might be worth it to just head to Maryland to get it. Good luck.
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Correct. CDPHE issued the order on the 3rd and it came into effect today, the 5th. I managed to get one the 2nd by getting a prescription from my GP and taking it to a local CVS, but it was a bit scary because nobody involved in the process had any idea how it was supposed to work.
EDIT: I re-read it and it seems it's also a blanket authorization for what would be off label use according to the FDA due to relying on sources with actual scientific rigor.
"People ages 19-64 years not included in a high risk group who desire their protection
from COVID-19 should be offered an age-appropriate 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine."
Hopefully the pharmacies around here will pay attention to that bit.
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As much as I would like to be smug about Americans making their bed and having to lie in it (you voted for these fucktards).. I can’t.
I was denied access to a vaccine in June. I’m in Canada.
I was denied access to a vaccine in June. I’m in Canada.
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I got my shot in Indiana today, through CVS. When I made the appointment online I had to select from a list of pre-existing conditions. Neither the online system nor anyone in the store followed up or verified (although it would have been fine with me if they had).
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I work face to face with college students who most likely will not be getting the vaccine. Is Washington DC trying to tell me that I am not eligible for a shot covered by my health insurance?
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FWIW, Massachusetts is another state not standing for the Federal bullshit - COVID and other vaccinations are now and will continue to be available.
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I live in Los Angeles. Just got my Covid shot at a Vons' Pharmacy. There were a few people in front of me so I did my shopping came back to the pharmacy. Got my shot. No problem here.
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I might be missing something but wouldn’t they benefit from my complete fantasy alliance?
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BobbyBobberson
Ars Scholae Palatinae
That's not what "off-label" means. The vaccines would be prescribed and administered for they where approved for. "Off-label" use would be if were prescribed for pain relief or something.
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In Arizona it looks like CVS and Fry's (the local Kroger unit) will give it at their medical clinics but not the regular pharmacy.
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My wife and I were able to get our updated COVID vaccine here in Maryland today at a local CVS. However, we have been unable to get our kids scheduled for the vaccine at either a pharmacy or their pediatrician. We're continuing to reach out to different practices in the hopes of finding one prior to September 18th.
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I am a retail pharmacist in MN and I just received Moderna shots yesterday. My company has always kept our protocols lined up with ACIP recommendations in the past but have told us in MN we do not need to wait for that guidance and can follow the FDA approval and a very broad list of high risk conditions as posted by another user. Even better in addition to allowing self-attestation the company told us there isn't even a documentation requirement on what the patient is claiming their condition is. I will have some crazy busy days for the next couple months, but I will happily be giving a lot of these vaccines.
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I am in California as well. The CVS app simply asks yes/no if there is an additional risk factor but does not ask for details. I will need to check to see if my health insurance covers the cost. I suspect it will.
I can choose Moderna or Pfizer and the new formula vaccine is available as early as tomorrow.
I can choose Moderna or Pfizer and the new formula vaccine is available as early as tomorrow.
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Just to add a bit of detail, at least for here in New Jersey.
At Walgreens, they stopped giving COVID shots a week or two ago, as it was apparent the new 2025-2026 formulation was going to be released. That makes some sense – why get the old vaccine when the new one is arriving very soon? Apparently, it did arrive at the beginning of the week, and released for use just a few days ago. So, you can go and get your shots now.
The problem with claiming risk factors is that yeah, if you have none of them, they are going to say no. If you’re under 65, the pharmacist will likely ask if you have any of the factors. Now, since many of risks are not visibly apparent, you could probably lie and get away with it. There is no checking (no one is going to test your blood sugar to see if you are diabetic). The only comforting thought is that is a very broad list; squint, and you can probably find something wrong….
There are non-trivial problems with making appointments, and I’m not sure it’s all that nefarious. Vaccine demand, especially this time of year, is overwhelming pharmacies. When the app says “no appointments are available”, it is often true – they are fully booked up. Processing immunizations and giving them is time consuming, and you don’t have to look hard to read horror stories of already overworked pharmacists and techs. Best advice then is to walk in without an appointment. They might turn you away because of the workload, so go midweek, in the mid-afternoon when it is least busy. Yes, you’ll have to go through all the paperwork at the counter, and wait until they can squeeze you in.
Again, this is all from my personal experience – for everyone else, standard disclaimers apply.
At Walgreens, they stopped giving COVID shots a week or two ago, as it was apparent the new 2025-2026 formulation was going to be released. That makes some sense – why get the old vaccine when the new one is arriving very soon? Apparently, it did arrive at the beginning of the week, and released for use just a few days ago. So, you can go and get your shots now.
The problem with claiming risk factors is that yeah, if you have none of them, they are going to say no. If you’re under 65, the pharmacist will likely ask if you have any of the factors. Now, since many of risks are not visibly apparent, you could probably lie and get away with it. There is no checking (no one is going to test your blood sugar to see if you are diabetic). The only comforting thought is that is a very broad list; squint, and you can probably find something wrong….
There are non-trivial problems with making appointments, and I’m not sure it’s all that nefarious. Vaccine demand, especially this time of year, is overwhelming pharmacies. When the app says “no appointments are available”, it is often true – they are fully booked up. Processing immunizations and giving them is time consuming, and you don’t have to look hard to read horror stories of already overworked pharmacists and techs. Best advice then is to walk in without an appointment. They might turn you away because of the workload, so go midweek, in the mid-afternoon when it is least busy. Yes, you’ll have to go through all the paperwork at the counter, and wait until they can squeeze you in.
Again, this is all from my personal experience – for everyone else, standard disclaimers apply.
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Most insurances will cover it for the time being. Despite the cost of the vaccines being ridiculous price-gouging (every step in U.S. healthcare system is), it still makes good financial sense to try to prevent the hospitalizations. Also, no insurer wants the bad PR at the moment for getting reported as the first company to deny coverage.
Issue is the financial component is not as good as you think it is with how often people change coverage in this country, and the fact that drug coverage and medical coverage are separate. While the biggest pharmacy benefit managers are part of conglomerates that also own health insurance companies a lot of times people's prescription coverage which likely is covering your shot at the pharmacy is not necessarily the same company that owns the health insurance. As a result the costs on the PBM will create savings for a Health Insurance but just be viewed as costs to the PBM.
Once we see one or two insurers start to deny claims it may be a flood of many insurers starting to say no. If you are in a state that will let you just go get the vaccine my advice is to do so.
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Would be great if she could get cracking on this. In NYC the only two CVS locations I'm seeing offering COVID vaccines are locations with Minute Clinics, so I assume they're doing a prescription on the spot setup. Besides two stores being wildly insufficient for serving NYC, this also presumably means incurring a copay for the visit with the doctor who writes your prescription.
Gonna be super fucking annoying if I have to go out to Hoboken to get my shots.
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Derp Derpus
Ars Centurion
I got mine at the local Walgreen's today after picking up some other prescriptions. I'm in my 70's and have stage IV cancer and kidney disease. While paying for my prescriptions I asked if they had the new COVID vaccine. I was told yes, they checked my age and it took about 5 minutes of waiting before it was administered.
Earlier this afternoon I called the pharmacy at the local Kroger affiliate and was told they won't have the new version in stock for a few weeks. A win for me because Walgreen's is six blocks from home and the Kroger owned store is 2.7 miles away.
Earlier this afternoon I called the pharmacy at the local Kroger affiliate and was told they won't have the new version in stock for a few weeks. A win for me because Walgreen's is six blocks from home and the Kroger owned store is 2.7 miles away.
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What is so...GD frustrating with this admin is it was his Operation Warp Speed that a) got us a vax for COVID b) sped up all the testing and other safety measures. But I doubt he even remembers he was President in 2019.
I remember when we had to schedule a vax, and it took so long, and how relieved everyone I encountered when getting that first and second shot were.
And now this. What a mess.
I remember when we had to schedule a vax, and it took so long, and how relieved everyone I encountered when getting that first and second shot were.
And now this. What a mess.
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That's not quite right, what it's actually about is forcing their beliefs on everyone else. It has and always has been about power over others.
Look at their war on women for a great example. They want to force women to give birth whenever they get pregnant, even if it will quite literally kill them, and they want to ban birth control so women are more likely to get pregnant. (They also want abortions banned in cases of rape and incest, including forcing little girls to give birth to rape babies. There's already been cases where a preteen girl had to go to another state to get an abortion, compounding her trauma.) They also oppose all welfare, which proves that it's not about the babies, it about controlling women.
These people are absolute evil.
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Hasn't the bulk of the Fall/Winter COVID vaccine supply already been manufactured? Are Americans going to be complaining about not having access while boosters slowly expire and are thrown away?
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"Overweight" per CDC is BMI ≥ 25, so nearly 73% of US adults meet that criterion. "Obese" is BMI ≥ 30.
Some state pharmacy boards (e.g., CO, MA, NM, NY, PA) are (re)implementing standing orders for no physician-prescription COVID (and other) vaccinations at retail pharmacies, based on tweaked CDC criteria.
Bottom line - In my blue state experiences, with pretty good insurance coverage, pharmacies just request self-attestation. Check the box for "immune deficiency," "kidney disease" or something your state categorizes "high risk.". Other insurance carriers may be more stringent, but if you're paying cash, tell them what they need to hear.
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CVS gives me 2 locations after I say I'm 52, with a condition. One is on Farifax, and the other is....Maryland.
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Do I understand this correctly? Figure 2 lists the high risk conditions, and one of them is "physical inactivity". It seems that everyone who occasionally sleeps at night or occasionally stops to take a rest experiences physical inactivity. Also, those who are seated when the vaccine is administered are experiencing physical inactivity at the time the vaccine is given.
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We have a spring and an autumn vaccine campaign. Next one will open on 14th October. You are welcome in any drugstore, if you are not covered by French social security it'll cost you something like 30€ (very rough guess).
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Yeah, except that a doctor's prescription is still required for most people in Oregon for the time being, because the Oregon Board of Pharmacy is pointlessly waiting for the ACIP meeting (at which time even more bullshit will likely occur) before enabling pharmacists to prescribe the vaccine: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/ORBOP/bulletins/3f150a6
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Moderna shot is now labeled as 60 days post thawing with no limit on the frozen state, so unlikely.
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I just wanted to point out that the revised guidelines still cover a larger cohort than NHS England:
Lord knows the NHS has its problems, but it definitely has not been overtaken by a cabal of rabid anti-vaxxers. I think it would be interesting to see an international comparison on vaccination guidelines.
Note that this is for annual winter vaccinations, as opposed to the immunisation programme, although covid doesn’t seem to appear until 75 either.
Edit: typo not for note.
From here.
Lord knows the NHS has its problems, but it definitely has not been overtaken by a cabal of rabid anti-vaxxers. I think it would be interesting to see an international comparison on vaccination guidelines.
Note that this is for annual winter vaccinations, as opposed to the immunisation programme, although covid doesn’t seem to appear until 75 either.
Edit: typo not for note.
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I can second this. I asked a friend that owns a pharmacy about getting vaccinated off-label, and he said he’d give it to me at his cost, but that he doesn’t know what that is yet, because it isn’t even available for him to order.
I’m also in the Southeast.
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Reading a novel that involves abnormal psych.
This seems spot on:
"The way they rationalize their behavior is that they don’t rationalize at all. They’re doing what they think is absolutely necessary. It’s what they believe in to their very core."
This seems spot on:
"The way they rationalize their behavior is that they don’t rationalize at all. They’re doing what they think is absolutely necessary. It’s what they believe in to their very core."
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The situation seems quite murky in Europe too, if you are not in a stated risk category. For example, Boots pharmacy (big UK and Ireland chain) offer bookings to those eligible according to current health board recommendations, which only recommend boosters for those in stated risk categories. I believe it is the same in most of Western Europe, though I think France may be offering it to anyone if they want.
Possibly they are more laissez-faire over here about letting people self-declare, I don't know. But it is only in Ars that I see threads like this. I can't find a single instance of someone in Ireland or the UK complaining about not being able to get boosters when they are outside the guidelines.
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