Other than the nationwide authority for pharmacists to administer COVID-19 vaccines, there is wide variation among states on which vaccines pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are authorized to administer, according to the American Disease Prevention Coalition.
The breakdown:
- Seven states allow pharmacists to administer all FDA-approved vaccines to adults without individual prescriptions.
- Twenty-seven states and Washington, D.C., authorize pharmacists to administer all FDA-approved vaccines to adults who have individual prescriptions.
- Four states authorize pharmacists to administer all vaccines recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to adults who do not carry a prescription.
- Nine states allow pharmacists to administer all vaccines recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to adults with individual prescriptions.
- Three states authorize pharmacists to administer a preset list of vaccines to adults without individual prescriptions.
Among pharmacy technicians, their authority is more divisive: 25 states permanently permit pharmacy technicians to administer vaccines while 25 states and Washington, D.C., do not.
"Ensuring pharmacists in all 50 states have the same vaccine administration authority as other health providers would help lay the groundwork for a better, stronger and more equitable healthcare system for all," American Disease Prevention Coalition says on its website. "Today, pharmacists' authority to administer vaccines varies from state to state and is not on par with physician authority to administer vaccines, despite being medically trained professionals."