[NOTE: I'm writing this post in Blogger because my usual blogging service, Typepad, has been offline for a day and a half because of overloaded servers. The overload is caused by Typepad's announcement in late August that they're shutting down for good as of September 30. So lots of Typepad bloggers are trying to export their posts and photos in order to migrate their blogs to WordPress, the premier blogging platform. I've been able to do that and have an agreement with a tech company in India to set up three WordPress blogs to replace my three Typepad blogs, and to migrate my posts and photos into the new blogs. But the WordPress blogs aren't operational yet.]
Yesterday RFK Jr., otherwise known as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, or, at a Senate hearing, other well deserved names, including “charlatan.”
I’d go with a even stronger epithet.
Kennedy’s crusade against safe and effective vaccines hit home for my wife yesterday when she showed up for a scheduled shot of this year’s updated Covid booster at the Walgreens pharmacy at Liberty and Skyline in Salem, Oregon.
She was turned away after being told that a prescription from her doctor is needed to get the Covid shot.
This makes no sense.
For one thing, under Kennedy’s inept leadership of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), the Food and Drug Admiistration (FDA) said recently that only people 65+ and those 6 months or older with at least one high-risk health condition qualify to receive a Covid vaccine this season.
My wife is over 65. So why the heck couldn't she get the updated Covid shot? It's Kennedy's fault, basically. Google AI offers a seemingly accurate explanation.
Following a recent shift in federal rules and state regulations, Walgreens in Oregon is currently requiring a clinician's prescription for the 2025-2026 COVID-19 vaccine. This is part of a broader, temporary change that has created confusion and limited pharmacy access in multiple states while awaiting final guidance from federal health authorities.Why pharmacies are limiting vaccine access
-- FDA restricted eligibility: On August 27, 2025, the FDA ended the broad emergency use authorization for COVID-19 vaccines. The new 2025-2026 vaccines are now only approved for those aged 65 and older, and for individuals under 65 with underlying conditions that put them at a higher risk of severe illness.
-- Waiting for ACIP guidance: The official recommendations on who should get the new shots still need to be finalized by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Until that guidance is published, Oregon state law requires a prescription for pharmacists to administer the newly approved vaccine.
-- Narrow state pharmacy laws: The situation in Oregon is particularly affected by the state's narrow scope of practice laws for pharmacists. These laws prevent them from independently prescribing a vaccine that has not yet been fully approved by ACIP.
What this means for Oregonians
-- Prescription required: To get the updated COVID-19 shot from a Walgreens or CVS pharmacy in Oregon, you currently need a prescription from a doctor or other healthcare provider.
-- Other options are available: You may still be able to receive the vaccine at your doctor's office or other healthcare provider, which may not be affected by the same state pharmacy rules. Oregon Governor Tina Kotek is also exploring a "standing order," a mechanism that could restore access to pharmacy vaccinations statewide.
-- Access may change: Because the situation is still in flux while state and federal authorities sort out the new guidelines, eligibility and availability could change in the coming weeks.
So it was Kennedy's order on August 27 (the FDA is part of HHS) to end the emergency use authorization for Covid vaccines that kicked off the mess we're in now. In his Senate confirmation hearing, Kennedy promised that even though he has a long history of being opposed to vaccinations, if he became the head of HHS everyone who wanted a vaccine would still be able to get it.
Kennedy lied.
My wife is testimony to that. Because in addition to being turned away from her Covid shot appointment by Walgreens, when she contacted her doctor's office to get a prescription, she was told that they aren't writing Covid prescriptions until after the September 18-19 meeting of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Up until now, ACIP's decisions could be expected to be in line with good science. However, Kennedy has stacked the advisory committee with anti-vax wackos, so there's no guarantee that it will even approve the Covid vaccine for people 65+, though I still expect that they will because the political blowback against denying seniors the vaccine would be intense.
The reason my wife is trying to get the updated Covid vaccine now is an upcoming trip at the end of September to North Carolina to visit friends. She wants to be as safe as possible on the airplanes she'll be taking, and it takes several weeks for the Covid vaccine to take full effect.
This is just another example, among many, of what a disaster the Trump administration has been. It's non-stop chaos and indefensible decision making.
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