Vaccine chaos: Even some vulnerable seniors can't get COVID shots amid spiking cases

Seniors successful immoderate parts of the state accidental they are being denied COVID-19 vaccinations amid an ongoing question of cases, starring to rising vexation implicit caller Trump medication policies that are making it harder to get the shots.

Matthew D’Amico, 67, of New York City, said a Walgreens declined to administer COVID-19 vaccines to him and his 75-year-old woman Friday due to the fact that they didn’t person a prescription. They’re trying to get vaccinated up of a trip.

“I can’t judge we can’t get” the vaccine, D’Amico said successful an interview. “I’ve been inoculated a fig of times and ne'er had to get a prescription. And it’s conscionable precise frustrating that this is wherever we are.”

He’s not unsocial successful his exasperation. Under the enactment of the vaccine skeptic Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., national agencies person successful effect made it much hard to get vaccinated against COVID-19 this year. The Food and Drug Administration has “approved” COVID-19 vaccines lone for those 65 and older, arsenic good arsenic younger radical with underlying wellness conditions.

That means crossed the country, radical younger than 65 funny successful getting the COVID-19 vaccine indispensable present either consult with a healthcare supplier oregon “attest” to a pharmacy that they person an underlying wellness condition. It’s a imaginable hurdle that tin marque getting the vaccine much hard and, immoderate wellness experts worry, punctual adjacent much Americans to eschew getting vaccinated.

As D’Amico tin attest, though, being portion of a radical for whom the COVID vaccine is “approved” doesn’t needfully warrant casual access.

“For maine to spell to my superior [healthcare provider] present and get a prescription, it’s conscionable benignant of ridiculous,” D’Amico said.

At slightest immoderate radical younger than 65 are encountering pharmacy unit asking probing questions astir their aesculapian conditions.

That happened Friday astatine a CVS successful Orange County, according to 34-year-old Alex Benson, who takes medicine that tin suppress his immune system.

Besides conscionable protecting himself, helium wanted to get vaccinated arsenic helium has household members who are astatine precocious hazard should they get COVID — his parent is immunocompromised, and his mother-in-law had open-heart country Thursday night.

Benson said an worker asked wherefore helium thought helium was eligible for the vaccine.

“They asked maine for either a medicine oregon they wanted to cognize ... wherefore I felt I needed the vaccination,” Benson said. At 1 point, a staffer offered to telephone his doc to get an authorization for the vaccine.

Benson said helium was alarmed by the questions, and started to “feel benignant of immoderate desperation to plead my lawsuit to the pharmacist.” Another CVS staffer aboriginal came implicit and said further answers weren’t indispensable and simply attesting that helium was eligible was bully enough. He yet got the vaccine.

Still, helium saw the acquisition arsenic dismaying.

“I deliberation casual entree should beryllium the policy,” Benson said. “I thin not to get excessively political, but it seems conscionable alternatively juxtaposed to maine that an anti-regulation medication is utilizing regularisation successful this way. They’re expected to beryllium removing barriers to healthcare.”

The vaccine chaos comes arsenic COVID-19 is either expanding oregon starting to deed its precocious summertime peak. According to information released Friday, determination are present 14 states with “very high” levels of coronavirus detected successful their wastewater — California, Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Indiana, South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Connecticut, Utah, Nevada, Idaho, Hawaii and Alaska, arsenic good arsenic the District of Columbia.

Dr. Elizabeth Hudson, the determination doc main of infectious diseases for Kaiser Permanente Southern California, said information proceed to amusement an summation successful COVID-19 cases.

“Over this past week, we’ve seen an summation successful the fig of outpatient COVID cases, and adjacent a smattering of inpatient cases,” Hudson said. “It appears that we whitethorn beryllium nearing the apical of the wave, but it whitethorn beryllium different 2 weeks oregon truthful until we genuinely cognize if we’re there.”

The complaint astatine which COVID-19 laboratory tests are confirming corruption besides continues to emergence statewide and successful the Los Angeles area. For the week that ended Aug. 30, California’s COVID trial positivity complaint was 12.83%, up from 7.05% for the week that ended Aug. 2. In L.A. County, the affirmative trial complaint was 14.83%, up from 9.33%.

Other data, however, suggest immoderate areas whitethorn person reached their summertime COVID peak.

In Orange County, the COVID-19 affirmative trial complaint was 13.1%. That’s beneath the anterior week’s complaint of 18%, but inactive higher than the complaint for the week that ended Aug. 2, which was 10.8%.

In San Francisco, the trial positivity complaint was 8.1% for the week that ended Aug. 30. That’s down from the anterior week’s fig of 8.7%, but inactive higher than the 5.8% reported for the week that ended Aug. 2.

In addition, wastewater information successful L.A. County amusement that coronavirus levels declined somewhat from the anterior week.

“It’s excessively aboriginal to cognize if this alteration successful wastewater viral concentrations is the archetypal motion that COVID-19 enactment is peaking oregon is regular saltation emblematic of this information source,” the L.A. County Department of Public Health said.

COVID infirmary admissions successful California are expanding — with the latest complaint of 3.93 admissions per 100,000 residents, up from 2.38.

But they stay comparatively debased statewide and successful L.A. County. The fig of L.A. County residents seeking attraction for COVID-related illness, oregon who person been hospitalized, “is rather a spot little than during summertime surges successful 2023 and 2024,” the county’s Department of Public Health said.

A comparatively mild summertime wave, however, could mean that the yearly fall-and-winter COVID question mightiness beryllium stronger. In July, the authorities Department of Public Health said that scientists expect California would spot either a stronger summertime COVID question oregon a much important wintertime wave.

The existent disorder implicit national COVID vaccine argumentation has been exacerbated by the chaos astatine the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, wherever Kennedy earlier this twelvemonth fired everyone connected the influential Advisory Committee connected Immunization Practices, and orchestrated the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez conscionable 29 days aft she was confirmed to the station by the Senate.

Some of Kennedy’s handpicked replacements connected the committee person criticized vaccines and dispersed misinformation, according to the Associated Press. And the caller interim CDC manager — Jim O’Neill, a Kennedy lawman — is simply a professional of wellness regulations and has nary grooming successful medicine oregon healthcare, the AP reported.

The CDC hasn’t issued its ain recommendations connected who should get vaccinated, and that inaction has resulted successful residents of a fig of states needing to get prescriptions from a healthcare supplier for astatine slightest the adjacent mates of weeks. In immoderate cases, that’s existent adjacent for seniors, arsenic D’Amico recovered out.

As of Friday, CVS said radical request a medicine to get a COVID-19 vaccine, sometimes depending connected their age, successful Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Maine, North Carolina, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia, arsenic good arsenic the District of Columbia.

CVS couldn’t adjacent connection COVID-19 vaccines astatine its pharmacies successful Nevada arsenic of Friday; they were disposable lone astatine the company’s MinuteClinic sites, according to spokesperson Amy Thibault.

CVS said it expects to connection COVID-19 vaccines without prescriptions astatine its pharmacies successful New Mexico, Nevada, New York and Pennsylvania “soon,” owed to caller regulatory changes successful each state.

“Right now, each patients successful each states request to attest to being eligible for the vaccine successful bid to docket an assignment online,” Thibault said. If an big says they person nary underlying wellness conditions, but bash person a medicine from a healthcare supplier for “off-label” usage of the vaccine, they tin get the shot, she confirmed.

On Thursday, Hawaii joined California, Washington and Oregon successful launching the West Coast Health Alliance: an interstate compact meant to supply science-based immunization guidance arsenic an alternate to the CDC.

“Together, these states volition supply evidence-based immunization guidance rooted successful safety, efficacy, and transparency — ensuring residents person credible accusation escaped from governmental interference,” according to a connection from California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.

The connection suggested that the Trump medication was fundamentally “dismantling” the CDC.

“The lack of consistent, science-based national enactment poses a nonstop menace to our nation’s wellness security,” the connection said. “To support the wellness of our communities, the West Coast Health Alliance volition proceed to guarantee that our nationalist wellness strategies are based connected champion disposable science.”

It was not instantly clear, however, whether the enactment of the West Coast Health Alliance would marque it easier for radical to get COVID-19 vaccines astatine the nation’s largest pharmacy retailers, wherever galore radical get their shots.

Mainstream aesculapian groups, specified arsenic the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, are offering their ain recommendations to counsel individuals and families connected what vaccines they should get.