PA COVID-19 Vaccine Access: Can You Get A Shot This Year?

PENNSYLVANIA — The state has taken action as uncertainty increases exists over people's impending availability of the COVID-19 vaccine across the state.

The Pennsylvania Board of Pharmacy has voted to allow state pharmacists to follow vaccine recommendations from trusted authorities — including the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians.

That differs from current federal policy.

Last week, the Trump Administration mandated that major pharmacies such as CVS had to stop offering COVID-19 vaccines to all Pennsylvanians — including seniors and people with underlying health conditions who still met the newly restricted criteria from the Food and Drug Administration.

The uncertainty caused pharmacies to require prescriptions for COVID-19 vaccinations that previously were not mandated.

The FDA has approved the updated shots for only older and high-risk Americans under the direction of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Kennedy was grilled on his policies before Congress on Thursday.

“The Trump Administration's outrageous decision to limit access to the COVID vaccine is an affront to Pennsylvanians' personal freedoms," Gov. Josh Shapiro said in a statement.

"I called on the state Board of Pharmacy to hold a special meeting to bring clarity to the people of Pennsylvania. “Health care decisions should be up to individuals — not the federal government and certainly not RFK Jr."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's vaccine panel will discuss potential recommendations in a few weeks, ABC News reported. Amid the ongoing availabilty uncertainty, some pharmacy chains have said that vaccine access could vary by state-by-state and could require a prescription.