They want a covid shot to protect their health or their family at risk. They cannot get it: blows

Jason Mitton wanted one of the new COVVI-19 vaccines before going on a business trip. But pharmacists from a pharmacies store near his home in Austin, Texas, refused.

“He is like:” Do you have a doctor’s note? “I said,” No, I don’t do it. “He said:” Well, FDA standards say you don’t qualify.

Mitton, who is 55 years old and says he has high blood pressure and high cholesterol controlled by medicines, plans to continue to try to be vaccinated.

“I think it’s ridiculous,” said Mitton. “I think it should be a person’s right to get the vaccine or not. So I’m very angry.”

The same goes for Cheryl Huges, 64, who lives outside Cleveland. She planned to have another hit as soon as the updated versions have become available. But, it is not eligible.

“I’m furious,” said Hughes. “Who wants to get sick?”

For the first time, the coastal vaccines are not available to anyone 6 months old and more to simply get by entering a pharmacy and asking to be inoculated.

In a major departure, the Food and Drug Administration has approved the shots for those who are most at risk of becoming seriously sick from the cocoan, because they are at least 65 years old or have another health problem that makes them very vulnerable.

The secretary of health and social services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and other health officials of the Trump administration maintain that most healthy people, the youngest have so much immunity that they no longer necessarily need annual boosters.

But many Americans who do not meet the new criteria always want to be vaccinated to avoid getting sick or spreading the virus to vulnerable family members.

And independent medical organizations such as infectious Disease Society of America argue that everyone should have the possibility of being vaccinated because there are convincing evidence that vaccines reduce the risk of serious complications, including hospitalization and death, even for people who are otherwise in good health.

Hughes wants to stay healthy so that she can take care of her husband, who suffers from dementia. She is her only goalkeeper.

“If I fall sick, my husband may have to enter a care institution. I could lose my job. It would be terrible,” said Hughes.

What is needed to get the photo

Secretary Kennedy has repeatedly said that new rules would not prevent anyone from being vaccinated if they wish. But many people told NPR that they had problems.

In principle, you can always be vaccinated if you meet the criteria, ask a doctor to prescribe a photo, or if you “self-associa” that you are eligible by telling the pharmacist that you meet the criteria.

But sometimes people are refused because the supplies of reformulated shots have not yet arrived. Sometimes it is because they did not meet the new criteria. Or they are told that they may have a chance if they first get a prescription, to be inexplicably rejected anyway when they return with the command of a doctor.

Some people describe hunting for a pharmacy shooting at the pharmacy and the doctor’s office in the doctor’s office – even sometimes looking for an out of the state.

The companies that make the shots, Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax, have not said exactly how many doses they made this year, given the closer approvals of the FDA. But Pfizer says that he is preparing “similar volumes” than last year, and that he is confident that he will respond to the demand. He also says that millions of doses have already been shipped.

Claire Hannan, executive director of the Association of Immunization Managers, says that she does not expect the vaccination supply to be a problem. She says pharmacies are able to control the covan shots and that they have been shipped.

“I think it’s going to be more difficult to access,” she said. “But I think anyone wants it, you know, can get it. But they just have to work hard to find it.”

But some clinics and pharmacies have not yet received the supplies they have still ordered. And some doctors’ offices, including pediatricians, and clinics may decide not to store the blows this year if they do not expect sufficient demand.

If you are trying to find one, Pfizer and Moderna both have vaccination websites being executed.

While waiting for CDC advice

A major problem is that pharmacists in certain states are prohibited from administering the plans until the centers for Disease Control and Prevention are specific recommendations for those who should be vaccinated.

In recent years, these recommendations have occurred in the spring. But Kennedy dismissed the entire advisory committee for vaccination practices, the independent group which makes these recommendations and replaced the members with its own advisers.

The new Kennedy Committee should finally meet next week on covid vaccines and other problems. This could alleviate some of the problems, including the hesitation that some pharmacists and doctors have due to changing rules and confusion.

But we don’t know what advisers will do. They could make things easier or more difficult for people to have a gunshot. Many new members of the committee share the anti-vaccine opinions of Kennedy.

In any case, until the Committee meeting occurs, the shots that are part of the Vaccines for Children program will not be shipped, explains Hannan, who explained that people had not yet been able to order them. In the United States, about half of children are eligible for free vaccines through the program.

Health insurance coverage could also be delicate. Although Aetna and United Healthcare have declared to NPR that they would cover the coup of the cost without sharing costs for people with fully assured plans – even for people outside the closer approval of the FDA – it is not clear what other insurance companies will do. And even people who have Aetna or United could have other kinds Plans that do not cover, which could collect patients around $ 200.

Fears for vulnerable family members, children

In the meantime, many Americans have rushed to try to understand how to get vaccinated.

“I am very angry, frustrated,” explains Allison Cote, 32, from Bristol, Conn.

Cote wants to stay well to protect his father, who has heart failure, other family members who suffer from diabetes and a parent who recently obtained a kidney transplant.

She is also concerned about her 16 -month -old son. It is not eligible to be vaccinated either this year, even if COVID can be very dangerous for babies. New blows are only approved for children who have conditions that put them at high risk.

In fact, the CDC this spring has abandoned the recommendations that children and pregnant women are regularly vaccinated. For children, the agency recommends to parents to speak first to their doctors about the vaccination of their children.

“It’s really overwhelming,” said side. “Why do I have to jump through hoops to do that? It’s a bit scary.”

If she owes it, side says she can do what some people do: just say she is eligible. But she doesn’t feel good about it. And she has no idea how to get a blow for her little boy.

“It is difficult to watch this game and know that there are so many lives in danger – and potentially the life of my son is also in danger,” explains Coast.

Stephan Neidenbach, 45, professor of public school of Annapolis, MD., Is also frustrated and angry. He fears to become sick and spread the virus to his students, his elderly parents or his mother-in-law, who has pulmonary problems.

“I would feel horrible if I understood it and if I transmit it to someone who cared for me. It’s terrifying,” said Neidenbach.

He plans to make his eligibility to get a blow.

Therese McRae, 37, from Sandy, Utah, also wants to be vaccinated. Her main motivation is to protect her 4 -year -old daughter, who suffers from type 1 diabetes, which puts her at risk from serious complications.

“Being a parent of a young child with a complex medical diagnosis is already quite difficult,” said McRae. “Having people around her not being able to be vaccinated increases her risk. It’s just very crushing. It’s scary.”

Karen Lambey, 43, who lives near Richmond, Virginia, desperately wants a vaccine. She says that she became immunocompromised after developing a long covid. Her pharmacist told her that she needed a prescription to get the photo and that she couldn’t find a doctor to give him one.

“All kinds of flu, Covid, would put me considerably,” explains Lambey. “These are all additional obstacles that continue to add up. I feel disappointed because it is something that is important for my health.”

And Lambey’s parents are also immune. She is afraid of spreading the virus to them. “It could potentially be fatal for them,” she said. “I couldn’t live with that.”