Drug World, Beacon Wellness to begin giving vaccine

Drug World's phones have been "ringing nonstop" with inquiries from Philipstown residents seeking COVID-19 shots, but owner Heidi Snyder only had one answer while awaiting the annual federal approval that had been routine until this year.

That approval is still pending, but the Cold Spring pharmacy will begin scheduling vaccinations as early as Monday (Sept. 15) because of an executive order issued Sept. 5 by Gov. Kathy Hochul, who declared an emergency "in the face of attacks on science and healthcare from the federal government."

The directive, which expires on Oct. 5, allows physicians and nurse practitioners to order COVID-19 shots for patients as young as 3 years old and expands pharmacists' authority to administer vaccines to children under 18, according to the governor. For the first time, she said, it permits pharmacists to prescribe the vaccines themselves. [Update: On Oct. 5, the governor extended the executive order another 30 days, to Nov. 5.]

Snyder said that Drug World and other pharmacies now have the "standing order" they need to give the shots to the broader public without a prescription - an approval usually given by the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), whose membership has been gutted by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Without ACIP approval, according to Hochul, many pharmacies in New York state began restricting the vaccines for children ages 3 to 17, pregnant people and adults under 65 without an underlying condition, at a time of year when infections typically begin rising as people spend more time indoors.

Two days before Hochul's executive order, Tim Lindner, a Cold Spring resident, said in an email to The Current that he visited Sam's Club in Fishkill for the COVID-19 booster shot he gets each September. Lindner, 74, said the pharmacist told him the company had just that day instituted a policy requiring a prescription for the shot.

The Beacon Wellness Pharmacy just received one of the two Moderna vaccines this week, according to Lee Williams, a pharmacy technician. Drug World's "hands were tied until Gov. Hochul issued her executive order," said Snyder, who expects to have one of the two Moderna vaccines and the Pfizer shot available on Monday.

If ACIP does not approve those vaccines and the one from Novavax when it meets Sept. 18, "I don't know what will happen," said Snyder. "I have to hope that her [Hochul's] executive order is going to hold."

Insurers typically base their vaccine coverage decisions on the recommendations of ACIP, a panel of advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but some say they will also look to medical professional groups, including the American Medical Association.

Earlier this year, Kennedy replaced the entire CDC panel, naming several doctors and researchers who have repeatedly questioned the safety of commonly used vaccines and ingredients.

In a social media post on Aug. 27, Kennedy said the shots will be "available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors." But Americans are likely to confront logistical hurdles.

U.S. regulators approved updated COVID-19 shots on Aug. 27 but limited their use for many Americans - and removed one of the two vaccines available for young children.

The new shots from Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax are approved for all seniors 65 and older. But the Food and Drug Administration narrowed their use for younger adults and children to those with at least one high-risk health condition, such as asthma or obesity. That presents new barriers to access for millions of Americans who would have to prove their risk - and millions more who may want to get vaccinated and suddenly no longer qualify.

Drug World will not ask for proof, said Snyder, but "if you're 64 or younger, you're going to need to attest that you have a pre-existing condition," she said. "We have to make sure that we cross our T's and dot our I's and make ...