The number of people who can and cannot get the new Covid booster shot continues to startle us.
When Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told senators in a hearing recently that anyone who wants a vaccine can get one, the lawmakers immediately challenged him. The personal experiences of many people prove that’s not true — from state to state, from drugstore to drugstore, people are having extremely inconsistent and random experiences — and a boatload of frustration in getting vaccine boosters for themselves and those close to them.
Here’s a woman from Denton, Texas, writing on her Facebook page:
“me: hi, pharmacy #1! I’d like to get a covid shot, please
“pharmacy #1: sure! do you have any of these underlying conditions? (hands me a list of lots of things)
“me: ahhhhh, no. but i’d like a vaccine please
“p#1: sorry, you have to be 65+ or have one of these conditions.
“me: but my insurance covers it and i want one? and one of the reasons i don’t have any of these underlying conditions is BECAUSE i’m vaccinated for lots of things. so, yes please?
“p#1: sorry. no.
‘I have no idea’
“(i call pharmacy #2)
“me: hi, can i make an appt to get a covid vaccine?
“p#2: you know, i have no idea anymore what the rules are. let’s see if we can make you an appt and then we’ll find out. (asks questions about my zipcode, age, health, etc)
“p#2: no, sorry, it won’t let me go any further. looks like you can’t get it.
“(so i call p#3 and leave a vm and ask if they carry it and if i can get it. p#3 calls me back and says no, they haven’t gotten any covid vaccines in at all this year, even though they requested them.)
“TURNS OUT YOU CAN GET A SHOT AT CVS YOOOOO. I just got my covid vaccine at the cvs on hickory — i think you might have to be an existing customer in their pharmacy, but definitely go get it while you can! i walked up to the counter without an appt and was out of there within about 20 minutes.
“go do the thing while you still can!”
I asked for more detail and she wrote: “I got a prescription from my dr that I was going to try to use this weekend but found out from [my husband] that CVS was doing covid vaccines after he was there earlier this week and the pharmacist asked him if he wanted a shot. He was FLOORED bc he knew the hassle i had just gone through! He got a shot, called me, and I ended up doing this on my way home today.”
A friend replied to her: “That was my experience at that CVS too — I told them I had no underlying conditions and they asked me if I work around a lot of people and that did it! “
(Have you tried to get a Covid vaccine lately? Tell us what happened: Email jeanne@clearhealthcosts.com.)
Confusion and more confusion
Updated Covid shots for the 2025-26 season started to arrive at pharmacy chains and offices two weeks ago, but the confusion generated in Washington by the Food and Drug Administration limiting the vaccine to people over 65 or people with a list of qualifying conditions that makes their risk greater has meant that a lot of people who want it can’t get it. Under normal circumstances, F.D.A.-approved vaccines are examined by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which says who qualifies. It is to meet Sept. 18-19 to discuss the 2025-2026 Covid vaccines. Kennedy dismissed all the 17 members of the panel in June, then named several replacements who have anti-vaccine credentials. The committee may still meet, but its decisions are hard to predict.
The upshot seems to be that there are few rules.
Sometimes the same person can find both “yes” and “no” at several locations in one city. Different locations in the same chain can have different policies. And one location of one chain can have employees with several different ideas of the policy — so one pharmacist can say “yes” but another “no” — at the same place.
Different states have different policies, so someone might be able to go from New Jersey to New York and get vaccinated. But the policies seem to be malleable: In New York, for example, Gov. Kathy Hochul issued an executive order making it possible for anyone over 3 years old to get vaccinated — yet we have heard many people saying they can’t get vaccinated.
Further confusing issues: There’s no reliable state-by-state scoreboard of policies that we know of.
The upshot is that it’s hard to figure out how to get vaccinated or how to counsel people on the steps they need to take.
New York again
A friend in New York writes: “I made an appointment for the Covid booster and flu shot a CVS in the financial district on Saturday 9/13. When it was my turn, I handed the pharmacist my insurance card — it’s GHI for city employees, which I get through my partner. Then she asked for my prescription benefits card — which was a first. I don’t remember providing that in all my family’s years of flu shots and Covid boosters.
“After a few minutes of typing, the pharmacist said ‘I’m sorry but your prescription plan doesn’t want to pay for it. They want your regular insurance to authorise it, and to get their approval, you need to get a note from a doctor, or even go to another CVS that has a CVS Minute Clinic. A clinician there would be able to order the vaccines.’
“I was annoyed and surprised. I asked for the cash prices for the vaccines without insurance:
“$75 for the flu shot
“$250 for the Covid booster
“I started to walk toward the exit thinking about where and when I would have time to get authorization for the shots. But then I remembered that my partner got the vaccines at CVS only the day before — without any mention of needing a doctor’s note and without paying anything. Obviously we have the same insurance plan, so it stands to reason that I should be covered too.
“I went back to the pharmacy counter and spoke to the same person. She said something like ‘alright let me try again.’ She spent a few more minutes typing and then said ‘OK, you’re all set.’
“I do not know what caused the red tape hiccup or what resolved it. But I did go home with the vaccinations I wanted for no out of pocket charge.”
‘Looking for excuses’
One person wrote: “One of the conditions is smoker, current or former. I smoked for three months 25 years ago. Walgreens gave me covid, flu, shingles, and pneumonia all last Friday. The pharmacists are looking for an excuse to give the shots and no one is actually looking. Just make shit up and get your shot.”
Another, from Louisiana: “Apparently one is high risk if you’ve had more than 5 sexual partners (now that’s an underlying condition!). It’s been a while but, 
sure. I tried getting one (vax, not sexual partner) at my usual Sam’s pharmacy today and was told that Louisiana is now one of 14 states requiring a prescription for Covid for anyone.”
From Arizona: “A mess here in AZ too with giant Banner Health putting stops on all — no Dr prescriptions, no ages — until they get “fact-based” guidance from the national health groups. ??!! So luckily our Dem governor just issued an executive order to permit Covid vaccines. But I think Walgreens still needs a dr Rx.”
Another: “Just lie. No one can check. I didn’t even get any questions at Walgreens when I went last week.”
‘Free to walk-ins’
In Kansas: “Dillons and Or hard Pharmacy in Lawrence, KS are offering Covid shots for free to walk-ins”
A New England woman wrote: “What a difference it makes to live in New England. Pharmacy here? ‘Are you sad, fat, over 65, had a wheezing fit anytime in your life? (Just shake your head yes).’ Here’s your updated Covid vaccine and a coupon for any in store purchase today.”
A Denton, Tex., man wrote; “I walked in (no appointment) to CVS on Hickory and got COVID, TDAP, and Hep B vaccines all in one day — no questions asked. (I was only planning on COVID vaccine, but the helpful pharmacist informed me that my insurance will cover the others that it was a good idea to get them). Day before, I went to the CVS at Target (fancy new one near Rayzor Ranch) and could only get the Flu shot. They had no COVID vaccines there.”
A woman wrote on Sept. 13: “My niece and great-nephew in Portland, ME got their shots today mere minutes after Gov. Mills ordered accessibility for Mainers.”
A Minneapolis woman wrote: “I made an appointment (online) at the CVS where I had a Rx filled; I checked that I was compromised (I’m under 65, so I wasn’t sure) and they asked no questions. Very easy for me in Minneapolis — easier than I thought. I wonder if it’s also because I had the Rx there and my insurance data is in their database? This was my first time getting vaccines at a pharmacy (not in a clinic setting)—”
No kid vaccines yet
A Twin Cities man wrote: “Walgreens in Minnesota. Appointments made online for 5 people. Process was slow, but worked as expected. Only wrinkle was that they needed a prescription insurance card, not a health insurance card — but not all of the pharmacy staff knew that. No shots available for kids under 12. We’ll need to get that at his primary. Online appointments worked fine – but you can only do four at a time.
“All were in the Twin Cities Metro. One in White Bear Lake, four in Columbia Heights. – 48 yo business consultant – 48 yo teacher – 18 yo high school senior – 16 yo high school junior – 14 yo high school freshman
“The 10 yo fourth grader did not get a shot because Walgreens claimed not to have the under-12 vaccines in stock.”
‘I just said yeah’
A Nebraska woman wrote: “Lincoln, NE HyVee, I had an appointment for flu and Covid. When I checked in the girl just said ‘since you’re under 65 you just need to indicate here that you have an underlying condition’ and it listed the usual asthma, obesity, heart disease, immunocompromised. I just said ‘yeah’ and she checked the box and we were all set. No issues with insurance.
“They did say that HyVee in MO and IA required a prescription.”
A California man wrote: “West Hollywood, CA. I had my annual physical today and asked about getting the Covid booster. Doctor told me that it’s difficult now and that I would have to get prior authorization from my insurance company. If the insurance company authorizes, then I could come back to the doctor’s office or go to a pharmacy.”
A Colorado man wrote: “No problems in Colorado.”
Iowa yes and no
In Grinnell, Iowa, I finally got the go-ahead. Last week, the local hospital said they didn’t have the vaccine, and the two big pharmacies — Hy-Vee and WalMart — said they were requiring a doctor’s note even for someone over 65, as I am.
I called the hospital today, Sept. 17, and they said they still don’t have it, but they expect to get it in two weeks or so. The woman answering the phone said they were also waiting on the ACIP decision at the meeting this week.
The Hy-Vee pharmacy is now giving vaccines for over 65 with no doctor’s note. Walmart is still requiring a doctor’s prescription.
AHIP, the insurer trade group, issued an announcement Sept. 16 saying: ““Health plans will continue to cover all ACIP-recommended immunizations that were recommended as of September 1, 2025, including updated formulations of the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, with no cost-sharing for patients through the end of 2026.”
What you can do
The situation is murky now, and it seems to be changing. Here are some options.
- Ask another supplier; if Walgreen’s won’t do it, maybe CVS will.
- Ask a different person at the same pharmacy. Or ask the same person again. We have seen both strategies work.
- Ask your doctor for a prescription.
- Travel to a nearby state, or get your vaccine while you’re on a planned trip to another state. State mandates may still change.
- If your doctor won’t write a prescription, maybe another will. Some people told us their doctors were sympathetic to their desire for a vaccine, even if the pharmacy wasn’t.
- Watch social media. A New Jersey friend found out which CVS to go to on social media. It is startling to say that social media can be more dependable than government, but there you have it.
- The Vaccine Hunters groups on Facebook are full of suggestions. Here’s the Chicago one. Here’s the Bay Area one. Here’s the Maryland one.
- Ask friends and neighbors. People are finding creative solutions.
(Have you tried to get a Covid vaccine lately? Tell us what happened: Email jeanne@clearhealthcosts.com.)
