Americans who are not eligible for a COVID-19 booster get vaccinated no questions asked at pharmacies and doctor’s offices

Americans who are not eligible for a COVID-19 booster receive it without showing proof of eligibility at pharmacies and doctor’s offices, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

Patients looking for a booster shot told the Journal that pharmacies are not looking for confirmation of eligibility, or without any questions from the pharmacist or online planning tools.

Debbie Hirsch, a 67-year-old retired teacher, told the Journal that she received a third injection of Moderna in a CVS in New York City by a pharmacist who did not ask her about eligibility.

She registered as immunocompromised on the CVS website when she registered, although she is not actually eligible, according to the report.

Lauch Hines, a 75-year-old retired South Carolina counselor, claimed local pharmacies showed up with her vaccination card, the Journal reported. And Michele Cozadd, a 46-year-old former technologist from Ohio, told the Journal that she received her recall without any questions from her pharmacist.

She said the planning app had not asked her if she was at risk or had a pre-existing condition, according to the report.

“Part of the demand we see for boosters is the shadow of policies we have had before that have failed to mitigate the spread of Covid,” said Neil Sehgal, health policy professor at the University of Maryland, in Journal. “Thousands of people still die every day.

“We are not out of the woods yet,” he added.

Despite more than a month of messy booster debate, most adults in the United States who have received the Pfizer vaccine are eligible to receive an additional injection, Insider previously reported.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have recommended the recall for qualified groups.

But only those with certain medical conditions like immunodeficiency or a recent organ transplant can get a Moderna vaccine booster.

President Joe Biden said on Friday that about 60 million Americans are eligible for a recall, or they will be soon.

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