Big pharmacies and public health clinics in Georgia are not yet giving this year’s COVID-19 booster shots, or are putting new restrictions in place, amid vaccine uncertainty under Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy.
Doctors hope the confusion will be resolved in a couple of weeks, when a federal committee appointed by Kennedy is scheduled to decide on whether to recommend the shot. It is not certain how the committee will vote.
At least for now, CVS will not allow its pharmacists to give the shot to Georgia customers unless they have a prescription, a CVS spokesperson told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
”We’re in this weird kind of waiting period because we don’t yet have (the committee’s) recommendation with regard to this new vaccine,“ even though other parts of government approved it days ago, said the CVS spokeswoman, Amy Thibault. ”So that’s the holdup. This didn’t happen previously."
None of the public health clinics in Georgia’s 159 counties will likely give the COVID booster for now either. The state Department of Public Health announced Wednesday it was also waiting on the vaccine committee, and those clinics are locally controlled but tend to follow the DPH lead.
And even some doctors are reluctant to write prescriptions for the shot at the moment because of the uncertainty.
DPH spokesperson Nancy Nydam Shirek said the clinics weren’t doing many COVID vaccinations at this time last year either, as it was waiting for its vaccine shipment.
Dr. Hugo Scornik, a pediatrician in Conyers, said he isn’t going to give the booster until the committee meets. Scornik said he has heard advice that without the committee’s official vote, doctors could be at risk if an insurance company decided not to pay or if someone decided to sue.
“So, you know, it makes me a little hesitant,” he said.
Scornik emphasized that he expects the wait to be temporary, and for Kennedy’s newly constituted committee to give the green light for use, noting the basic vaccine formulations have been tested in millions of people and scientists found it safer to get than not.
“It’s a little bit crazy,” Scornik said. “But we have to wait.”
There has been recent upheaval to the committee, called the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. In June, Kennedy fired the entire committee and is slowly appointing new members more aligned with his skeptical views on vaccines.
The changes have drawn widespread concern.
Former CDC Director Susan Monarez reportedly was fired because she told Kennedy she would not rubber-stamp committee recommendations. Other CDC leaders who resigned in protest after Monarez was fired also report concern about the committee, which plays a key role in getting vaccines into arms.
After the Food and Drug Administration approves a vaccine, the committee recommends to the CDC director what groups of people should be encouraged to get it and what groups should not.
The committee is typically composed of top national experts in infectious diseases and immunization. The CDC director then issues CDC’s final recommendations.
In dozens of states with different laws, CVS is willing to give the COVID booster to walk-ins, as usual. But Georgia is among 16 states that rely more than others on the committee’s recommendations.
CDC Director Monarez was fired last week, which led to the resignation of four top leaders at the agency. A White House spokesperson said Monarez was “not aligned with the president’s agenda.” A spokesperson for Kennedy said the CDC was “troubled” and Kennedy was fixing it.
After hearing the former CDC leaders’ concerns, U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana and chair of the Senate’s committee on health, called for the committee meetings to be indefinitely postponed.
“Serious allegations have been made about the meeting agenda, membership and lack of scientific process being followed,” Cassidy said. “These decisions directly impact children’s health, and the meeting should not occur until significant oversight has been conducted. If the meeting proceeds, any recommendations made should be rejected as lacking legitimacy given the seriousness of the allegations and the current turmoil in CDC leadership.”
As of now, the meeting is still scheduled for Sept. 18-19.
Concerns about the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices are compounded by the fact that the FDA made an unusual move in its basic approval of the new vaccine formula, restricting it for people with certain conditions.
In announcing that move on social media, Kennedy said at the time, “The American people demanded science, safety, and common sense. This framework delivers all three.”
AJC reporter Taylor Croft contributed to this story.
COVID booster: Who is eligible?
As of Aug. 27, the FDA approved the COVID booster for anyone 65 and older, or for younger patients who have an underlying condition that could make them more vulnerable to serious impacts from COVID.
If those rules hold and shots become available again, people younger than 65 may need to discuss with their health care provider whether they are eligible. Below are a sample of some of the existing conditions for eligibility:
- Asthma
- Coronary artery disease
- Depression
- Diabetes
- Down syndrome
- HIV
- Obesity
- Physical inactivity
- Smoking, current or former
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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