Va. Department of Health issues order to ease COVID-19 vaccine access, as federal guidance shifts

In newest days residents of Virginia and other states began to need a prescription from their primary care provider in order to get a COVID vaccine a change prompted by shifting federal requirements An order the Virginia Department of Healthcare issued Wednesday now makes it easier for eligible Virginians to get vaccines in the weeks ahead The U S Food and Drug Administration just now ended broad crisis authorizations for COVID vaccines that have been in place since vaccines first rolled out for the global pandemic Under that new federal rule robustness care providers and pharmacists could no longer freely offer COVID shots to the residents The new standing order allows Virginians and older to still receive vaccines sans prescription The new federal requirements to be and older or have a prescription had posed challenges for people statewide according to robustness care workers and advocates While one barrier might not seem like a big deal for one population it is for others University of Virginia nursing professor Ashley Apple of late communicated The Mercury Those who live in rural areas or areas with fewer hospitals or primary care clinics may have a harder time accessing a primary care provider and obtaining a prescription That s about million Virginians statewide according to a up-to-date Virginia Commonwealth University investigation Last week two primary care clinics and an urgent care clinic closed that serve patients in the Shenandoah Valley Augusta Wellness which had operated those clinics cited federal actions like forthcoming strength care changes in the reconciliation bill Congress passed this summer as a contributing factor But the closures still mean less of their wellness care footprint in the region and hurdles for specific of their patients Before VDH s order Apple had anticipated a bottleneck at primary care clinics as both current patients and new ones seeking to establish a primary care provider would rush to schedule appointments for prescriptions She had also suggested the strength department issue such an order to promptly open access to the vaccine The Mercury had demanded VDH Tuesday if this type of order was a possibility VDH epidemiology spokesman Logan Anderson noted he wasn t yet able to answer the question While the order can alleviate selected of the current hiccup amid the shifting federal policies accessibility to COVID- shots are still up in the air pending other federal actions On Sep the Centers For Condition Control and Prevention s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ACIP will meet to discuss guidance for doctors insurance companies and states on how shots can be accessed Insurance companies typically cover vaccines that are recommended by the CDC but that could change depending on what the ACIP meeting entails For people with insurance their shots might be covered or partially-covered Out-of-pocket costs for coronavirus vaccines can range in hundreds of dollars CVS for instance charges While ACIP plans to deliberate the future landscape of vaccines Robustness and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr appointed critics of coronavirus vaccines to the committee which could signal that the shots may be less accessible more broadly In the meantime VDH s order can help those wishing to get their vaccines in the near future The nation is no longer experiencing a global pandemic and vaccines have played a role in reducing infections Last week nearly Virginians tested positive for COVID- As colder months approach and people are more likely to gather inside airborne spread illnesses typically experience upticks Source