ATLANTA — If you want a COVID vaccine here in Georgia, you’ll need to get a prescription from your doctor. Even then, they’re hard to find right now.
A federal vaccine advisory panel will meet next week to issue new COVID vaccine guidelines.
There are worries that the new guidelines may make those vaccines more difficult to get.
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“That’s the problem. Physicians are confused. Pharmacists are confused and most importantly, the patients are confused,” pharmacist Ira Katz told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot.
Katz has run the Little Five Points Pharmacy for 44 years. He told Elliot that he’s worried about the coming winter months and COVID.
Right now, patients wanting a COVID-19 vaccine from any pharmacy must first have a prescription.
But that, Katz worries, means more people won’t get it.
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“The problem is not everyone has a doctor that they can go to, and they certainly can’t afford to go to an emergency room or an urgent care center to get a prescription,” Katz said.
At a virtual meeting of the Georgia Board of Health on Tuesday, doctors expressed worries about changes and cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices.
Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy defended those changes last week.
“These changes were absolutely necessary adjustments to restore the agency to its role as the world’s gold standard public health agency,” Kennedy said.
ACIP meets next week and could issue new guidelines more in line with Kennedy’s views on vaccines.
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Georgia’s health department usually bases its guidelines on ACIP’s recommendations.
“Therefore, what we can expect is very controversial guidance which will focus more on vaccine injuries than vaccine expansion,” state health board member James Curran said during Tuesday’s meeting.
That also worries Katz, who’s concerned any roadblocks to a vaccine could mean an unwelcome outbreak of COVID or worse.
“Right now, as it stands, I believe that we potentially could enter into a public health emergency,” Katz said.
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