Polis Issues Order to Keep Pharmacies Administering COVID Boosters Without Doctor’s Note

By John Ingold | The Colorado Sun

The orders follow the federal Food and Drug Administration’s decision to authorize COVID vaccine boosters only for certain people.

Colorado officials on Wednesday issued public health orders aimed at making it easier for Coloradans to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster this fall.

The orders essentially create a standing prescription allowing for any Coloradan ages 6 months or older to receive a COVID shot if they or their parents choose. That is significant because pharmacy heavyweights CVS and Walgreens, amid confusion over federal vaccine policy, have thus far refused to administer COVID shots this year to anyone in Colorado without a doctor’s prescription.

In addition, the state Board of Pharmacy will meet Friday to discuss rule changes that could further ensure access to COVID vaccines.

“Colorado is committed to empowering individuals to make choices to protect their own health and safety,” Gov. Jared Polis said in a statement, “and I will not allow ridiculous and costly red tape or decisions made far away in Washington to keep Coloradans from accessing vaccines.”

The prescription order goes into effect on Friday.

Confusion on federal policy

Typically, pharmacies can administer seasonal vaccines without a doctor’s note, and they are a vital part of the vaccination system. Retail pharmacies administered 92% of COVID vaccine doses last year nationwide.

But the decisions by Walgreens, CVS and other large chains to restrict vaccination in Colorado came this year amid a shakeup in federal vaccine policy.

First, the Food and Drug Administration authorized COVID shots from makers Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax, but restricted their use in people under 65 to only those with medical conditions placing them at higher risk of severe illness.

Dr. David Higgins, a Colorado pediatrician and researcher who is also the vice president of the Colorado chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said the FDA’s decisions to narrow the authorizations are perplexing.

“From my perspective, it’s not clear what the rationale and the justification was for the narrowing,” he said. “There’s no new evidence suggesting new safety risks or changes to effectiveness that would seem to justify narrowing the approval.”

Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has yet to meet to decide on recommendations for this year’s COVID vaccines, and there are calls for that committee’s September meeting to be postponed, amid a massive shift in the committee’s makeup. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. previously fired all members of the advisory committee — including a Colorado doctor — and replaced them with a smaller, handpicked contingent that includes some members who have been critical of vaccines.

This means that there is currently no CDC guidance on the annual vaccines, leading to nationwide confusion over who can actually get a vaccine this year and under what conditions.

Answering questions Saturday on the social media site Reddit, Polis criticized the FDA decision, as well as Kennedy and President Donald Trump. He said he had been working to resolve the issue with pharmacies Friday and promised a solution “in the next few days.”

“I am so disappointed that RFK and the Trump administration did this, as it will cost lives in other states that don’t make it easier,” Polis wrote. “The step of going through a physician for a safe, effective vaccine is absurd.”

Why Colorado was singled out

Walgreens’ and CVS’ prescription-only policy isn’t uniform nationwide. In some states, the pharmacies are administering the vaccines as usual. But the companies have said state laws and regulations in a few states prohibit them from administering vaccines without ACIP approval.

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