Will you be able to get a COVID vaccine?
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@wtg my doctor has been saying the same for a few years. I've been getting them anyway. I'm pretty close to the age barrier.
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Many states are in the process of delinking from CDC panels and doing approvals on their own. This is because some pharmacies (like CVS) are unwilling to provide vaccines in their states because they believe existing state policy mandates CDC approval.
New Mexico for instance:
https://www.nmhealth.org/news/vaccine/2025/8/?view=2267
This ruling came out a day after I told Governor Grisham (on her BlueSky account) to do precisely this. Must have been my forceful note!
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New England states are exploring banding together to do something similar
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This is all part of the "soft secession" process. It's just a bit more organized than one-issue challenges to this or that federal policy. Blue states are indeed coordinating resistance to federal rules and requirements in ways that challenge the idea of a long-lasting political union. We will be in the end-stage of that process when wealthier states find ways to stop sending revenues to the poorer red states that fleece them.
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SK:
If you have a portal for out of office questions for your provider, might that be a good alternative to such a question in a meeting?Nevermind.
I see wtg already asked about this option, and you looked into it.
(Your obligatory PCP change sounds like a humongous nuisance.) -
I'm unhappy to see Massachusetts is one of only three states where CVS won't dispense the vaccine with or without a script. (I wonder why. Same question re Florida with all their retirees.) One son who lives in MA is working as a paramedic (exposure!).
I hope other pharmacies there will fill scripts. -
SK:
If you have a portal for out of office questions for your provider, might that be a good alternative to such a question in a meeting?Nevermind.
I see wtg already asked about this option, and you looked into it.
(Your obligatory PCP change sounds like a humongous nuisance.) -
You non-geezers in reasonably good health might not need to be too concerned if you don't get a booster this year...just a thought, with a bit of evidence behind it...
I was checking out the BBC's coverage of Kennedy's testimony at a Senate hearing today. Saw this bit. I bolded what I thought was pretty interesting.
Robert Kennedy has been pressed about the decision to tighten rules for the Covid vaccine in the United States, and Senator Elizabeth Warren has also just asked for more information.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently restricted eligibility of the booster shot this autumn, meaning it will only be routinely offered to all those over 65 years old.
Some younger people will still be able to get it for free, but only if they have an underlying medical condition which makes them particularly vulnerable.
That decision brings the US into line with most other countries, including the UK, where the vaccine is now only available through the pubic health system for certain vulnerable groups - although it can also be purchased privately at high street pharmacists.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cpqnnle1pd4t
Here's the NHS schedule:
Who should have the COVID-19 vaccine
You can get the winter COVID-19 vaccine if you:
are aged 75 or over (including those who will be 75 by 31 January 2026)
are aged 6 months to 74 years and have a weakened immune system because of a health condition or treatment
live in a care home for older adults
Their geezers are older than our geezers.
I also thought I would check the WHO COVID vaccine recommendations.
https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/covid-19-vaccines/advice
It's too bad that Kennedy didn't just say up front that the US is doing what the rest of the world is doing. I would have had a lot more faith in the CDC's decision if they had. Instead he just talks about cleaning house and reinforces the notion that he ignores real science and medicine for the most part. This change in recommendations vis a vis COVID vaccines seems to be a valid one that he stumbled into.
