Confused about COVID-19 shots? New rules leave some Idahoans guessing

The latest COVID-19 vaccine for the fall and winter is already stocked in pharmacies across Idaho. But depending on your age or health condition, you might have trouble trying to get the vaccine, if you’re able to get it at all.

That’s because the Food and Drug Administration approved the updated shots for only certain groups.

The agency in late August authorized the vaccines for people 65 and older and people at high risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19. Younger people are eligible only if they have an underlying medical condition that puts them at risk for severe illness. Healthy children could still get it if a medical provider is consulted first.

The change marks a major shift from policy of years past, when COVID-19 shots were widely recommended to most adults and children.

The new approach, under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., pits federal health officials in the Trump administration against several mainstream medical groups, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Physicians and American Public Health Association, that oppose the restrictions.

Health officials in the Trump administration have argued that most young, healthy people don’t need annual boosters anymore. Still, Kennedy said on Aug. 27 that anyone who wants a COVID-19 booster can get it.

“FDA has now issued marketing authorization for those at higher risk: Moderna (6+ months), Pfizer (5+), and Novavax (12+),” Kennedy said in a post on X. “These vaccines are available for all patients who choose them after consulting with their doctors.”

But at least a handful of Boiseans have found that not to be the case.

Some say they cited a health condition

One woman, who reported being 33 weeks pregnant, said on Reddit that she went to a pharmacy in Boise to get her seasonal boosters for COVID-19 and the flu and the maternal respiratory syncytial virus shot, which protects newborns from RSV. She said she was denied the COVID-19 vaccine. One person reported booking an appointment at a pharmacy but then being turned away after arriving for being under age 65.

In other posts, several people said they ticked a box on a form or self-identified as having an underlying health condition to get the shot.

A spokesperson for Walgreens said by email that the COVID-19 vaccines are available at its stores in Idaho in accordance with FDA approval. Other pharmacies, such as CVS and in-store at Albertsons supermarkets, said the same.

“Eligible patients include all adults ages 65 years and older, as well as individuals under age 65 with at least one underlying condition that puts them at high risk for severe outcomes from COVID-19, as determined by the CDC,” the Walgreens spokesperson told the Statesman. “Patients may self-attest to their qualifying condition.”

Some of the more common medical conditions that place someone at a higher risk of developing severe illness from COVID-19 and qualify them for the updated vaccine include diabetes, obesity, hypertension, heart conditions, chronic lung diseases and cancer, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Committee to discuss COVID-19 approval

Blue Cross of Idaho and Select Health told the Statesman they have yet to make any changes regarding covering the vaccine for insured members, even as pharmacy operators in the Boise area say they’re only doling it out in accordance with FDA approval. A spokesperson for Select Health, the insurance arm of Intermountain Health, a nonprofit hospital-and-clinic system based in Salt lake City, said it covers the COVID-19 vaccine for all ages with no cost-sharing obligations.

Blue Cross of Idaho said it encourages members to talk with their medical providers about the vaccine.

“We continue to cover COVID-19 vaccines for our members, as we have in the past, and are monitoring the regulatory environment,” Blue Cross of Idaho said in a statement.

Doctors could still prescribe the booster off-label, to people not included in the FDA’s latest approval, but that adds another layer of complexity, since most people get their seasonal shots by appointment or walk-in at a pharmacy, not through a prescription from their general practitioner.

The FDA’s approval is on the docket at a Friday meeting of the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee, which is expected to make a recommendation of its own as to who should be able to get the shots. In June, Kennedy fired every member of the committee and replaced them with his own picks, many of whom have been skeptical of the COVID-19 vaccines.

“A clean sweep is needed to re-establish public confidence in vaccine science,” Kennedy said in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

When should I get my flu shot in Idaho? Can I get COVID vaccine at the same time?

Idaho health officials say measles is ‘circulating,’ can ‘multiply quickly’