{"id":212448,"date":"2025-09-09T09:21:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T09:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212448\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T09:21:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T09:21:09","slug":"virginia-families-face-hurdles-getting-updated-covid-19-vaccine-amid-prescription-confusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/212448\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia families face hurdles getting updated COVID-19 vaccine amid prescription confusion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia families are hitting roadblocks getting the new COVID-19 vaccine, as shifting federal rules spark confusion over pharmacy prescription requirements.<\/p>\n<p>Virginia families are hitting roadblocks while getting the new COVID-19 vaccine, as shifting federal rules spark confusion over pharmacy prescription requirements.<\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/blog\/2025\/09\/05\/statement-from-the-virginia-department-of-health-regarding-the-2025-26-covid-19-vaccine\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">the Virginia Department of Health<\/a>, pharmacists can give vaccines in two ways: with a prescription from a medical provider, or under statewide protocols that allow vaccinations without a prescription \u2014 as long as they follow the immunization schedule from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n<p>The CDC\u2019s current immunization schedule lists the 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine, but not the 2025-26 version, which is why a prescription is now required for the newer shots.<\/p>\n<p>Jim Hardin, a 75-year-old resident of Haymarket, told WTOP he was asked to present a prescription recently when he tried to get a vaccination at a Giant Foods Pharmacy near his home. He said he\u2019s never been asked for a prescription.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me, this is kind of a federal bureaucracy \u2026 that\u2019s really useless,\u201d Hardin said. \u201cIf you think about it, what doctor is going to say, \u2018No, I\u2019m not going to give you a prescription for a COVID shot?\u2019 I mean, they\u2019ll all give it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hardin said he is retired veteran and can get a shot at a local military base. But he said that\u2019s at least 20 miles away and not at all convenient.<\/p>\n<p>Several states have already acted on similar concerns. In Colorado, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania, pharmacists can give COVID-19 vaccines without a prescription.<\/p>\n<p>The CDC\u2019s vaccine advisory committee meets Sept. 18 and 19 to vote on updated COVID-19 shots. If approved, pharmacists could give the vaccines without a prescription.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI just think the government is trying to dissuade citizens from getting a shot,\u201d Hardin said. \u201cI think that\u2019s wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"single-page__signature bottom\">Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up <a href=\"https:\/\/wtop.com\/newsletter-signup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"single-page__signature bottom\">\u00a9 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Virginia families are hitting roadblocks getting the new COVID-19 vaccine, as shifting federal rules spark confusion over pharmacy&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":212449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[116319,16460,79599,210,67,132,68,2857,116320],"class_list":{"0":"post-212448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-alan-etter","9":"tag-cdc","10":"tag-covid-vaccine","11":"tag-health","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us","15":"tag-vaccines","16":"tag-virginia-department-of-health"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115173607677513110","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}