Some states forbid pharmacists from administering vaccines that lack recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). CVS is not offering COVID vaccines in 16 states and the District of Columbia pending an ACIP recommendation, citing the "current regulatory environment." Last year ACIP recommended updated COVID vaccines in June, and in 2023 it endorsed new vaccines in September one day after FDA approval. The ACIP was not scheduled to meet for three weeks, and several high-level CDC resignations prompted Senator Bill Cassidy to call for an indefinite postponement. Delayed ACIP action could limit access to updated shots into the fall when respiratory infections typically rise.
CVS, the country's largest pharmacy chain, is currently not offering COVID vaccines in 16 states, including Florida, New York and Pennsylvania, even to people who meet newly restricted criteria from the Food and Drug Administration. Amy Thibault, a spokesperson for CVS, cited "the current regulatory environment" as the reason the vaccine was not available in those states, or in the District of Columbia, emphasizing that the list could change.
But as of Thursday, the panel was not scheduled to meet for another three weeks. And, after a slew of high-level resignations at the CDC, Sen. Bill Cassidy R-La., the chair of the Senate's health committee, has called for the meeting to be "indefinitely" postponed. That could mean many people's access to shots remains hamstrung well into the fall, when infections from respiratory viruses normally spike.
Collection
[
|
...
]