RICHMOND, Va. β At 66, Darryl Glover tries to stay on top of his health as much as he can. Every six months, he gets his COVID booster shot.
"I have done that since the vaccine first became available," Glover said.
He was surprised when he recently made an appointment with his local pharmacy to get the 2025-2026 COVID vaccine. Once he arrived, he was told he needed a prescription.
After all, the CDC has traditionally said older adults are at highest risk for getting very sick from COVID.
"And when I called my doctor's office to get the prescription, they didn't even know about it. This was last week, and so they called me back and said, yeah, we'll give you a prescription," Glover said.
On its website, the CDC recommends the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine for most adults and says it is especially important to get the 2024-2025 COVID-19 vaccine if you are 65 and older.
But that guidance is not applied to the 2025-2026 COVID shot, which is already shipping to area pharmacies and providers.
"I think there's a lot of confusion about the difference between the federal rule and individual states making their own rule about who 65 and older can have access to the vaccine with or without a prescription, and people need to know," Glover said.
Watch: Hoping to get a COVID-19 booster in Virginia? You now need a prescription.
Here's what the Virginia Department of Health told us:
There are two ways to get a vaccine in Virginia.
The first is under the direct authorization of a medical provider through a prescription.
The second is by following the Virginia Board of Pharmacy's statewide pharmacy protocols.
Those protocols permit pharmacists to administer vaccines based on the CDC immunization schedule.
Currently, that schedule does not have guidance on the latest formulation of the vaccine.
The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices is scheduled to meet on Sept. 18 and 19 to vote on the updated COVID-19 vaccines.
If approved, pharmacists will be able to administer the updated COVID-19 vaccine.
But in the meantime, Glover wants his peers to know they need to call their doctor to get a prescription if they want to get the shot.
"I appreciate you coming to see me about this, and hopefully you can get the word out," Glover said.
We asked Gov. Glenn Youngkin's office if he was considering making the updated COVID vaccine available to seniors without a prescription, as some other state governors have recently done.
We are waiting for a response.
On Friday, a spokesperson told us the administration will consider options once the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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