The Defender: “If you are not in one of the 16-ish states requiring a prescription for a COVID vaccine, you should be able to self-report a condition and receive your vaccine….I’m high-risk and I want the vaccine. Can I walk into a pharmacy and get it? No, because that would be easy, and anti-vaccine activists do not want vaccines to be easy to get. Currently, vaccine access varies by state, because some states have guidelines that require approval from CDC and some set their own. This list might change at any time, but this is the current lay of the land, according to CBS News.

• CVS is offering COVID vaccines in Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
• In the other 16 states, and the District of Columbia, CVS will only vaccinate someone for COVID-19 if they get a prescription. The same should be true for Walgreens, right? How dare you assume there would be any semblance of logic here. According to the New York Times, Walgreens requires a prescription for a vaccine appointment in 16 states, which is not the same set of 16 states than those in which CVS requires a prescription. Navigating this will be extremely annoying. So annoying, in fact, that many busy people will probably decide they have better things to do with their time, and not get a vaccine at all. And many people don’t have access to a doctor at all; they too will not get vaccinated. At the end of the day, just remember that these rules could all change at any time…”

See also Ars Technica – Who can get a COVID vaccine—and how? It’s complicated. We’re working with a patchwork system, and there are a lot of gray areas.