Utah pharmacists don’t need prescription to give COVID shot

Utah pharmacists will be able to administer a COVID-19 vaccine without a prescription to customers who want it and who also belong to one of the categories for which it has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, according to a notice from the Utah Division of Professional Licensing.

According to the announcement from the division director, Mark B. Steinagel, “Utah pharmacists have the authority to prescribe and administer the 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine in accordance with the latest voted on and approved recommendation from (the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices). Pharmacists are also able to delegate the administration of 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine to trained pharmacy interns and pharmacy technicians.”

The notice said that while the ACIP recommendation has changed from a broad recommendation to vaccinate those over 6 months old to a “shared decision-making model” between healthcare providers and individuals in certain age and health categories, pharmacists can provide the vaccines without prescription.

The committee in its two-day meeting in mid-September specifically voted not to require a prescription after the committee chairman, Martin Kulldorff, broke a tie on the issue.

As Deseret News reported at the time, that meant states that allow pharmacists to provide vaccines would allow the practice, but Utah was one of the states in a gray area that put limits on which vaccines pharmacists can administer based on ACIP recommendations and FDA approval. You could, for example, get a flu vaccine at a pharmacy without a prescription. But there has been a lot of confusion about the COVID-19 vaccine’s status since the FDA limited its approval to certain groups.

Vaccine recommendation carve-outs

The FDA approved the COVID-19 vaccine for everyone 65 and older and people with specific medical conditions that put them at risk of severe COVID-19 should they become infected with the virus. That includes, for instance, those with a compromised immune system. The vaccine is not recommended for healthy children and adults. People who fit those more restricted vaccination requirements are considered eligible patients who can now get the vaccine from a pharmacist without a healthcare provider writing a prescription.

“Pharmacists are also still authorized to administer any FDA-approved vaccine pursuant to a prescription or a collaborative practice agreement,” per the DOPL letter.

Advice could still change

The advice and authorization could change, however. Steinagel wrote that the authorizing letter expires “when the CDC approves and publishes the ACIP product-specific recommendations for the 2025-26 COVID-19 vaccine.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Commerce, in which the division resides, told KSL that the rules could change if the Department of Health and Human Services issues its own different guidance, but for now the division will honor the committee’s vote to not require a prescription.

COVID-19 vaccines have been a confusing and to some degree contentious issue. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy has expressed skepticism about several vaccines, including the coronavirus vaccines that rely on mRNA technology. And the FDA guidance has severely limited the groups for whom the vaccine is recommended, so there have been questions about not only whether those not on the list should get them, but if they even could get them, should they want to be vaccinated.

Per Deseret News, “Ultimately, panelists of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices agreed that better informed consent and joint decision-making with a health care provider should be emphasized. Whether the ‘joint clinical decision-making’ will weaken the ability to get a COVID-19 vaccine is unclear, since it implies people should see a qualified health care provider before deciding on vaccination.”