Pharmacists can now give vaccines - without a prescription!

amother

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 1:37 am

As a very selective, delayed vaxxer, this is very good news!

It means that you can now vaccinate your children on a very spaced out schedule without fighting with your doctor!

Hopefully they will allow walk-ins, which will make it even better!

My personal policy is:
- No vaccines before age 2
- 2 months between each vaccine
- No vaccines if child is even mildly ill
- Stop vaccinating altogether if there is a bad reaction

Until now, that has meant doing no vaccines at all, because it's hard to get a doctor to agree to such a schedule, and because it means making a million appointments at whatever time is convenient for the doctor instead of convenient for me.

I think this will be a positive development for everyone.

amother

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 2:57 am

Why on earth would it mean that kids can get vaccines without parental permission?!? Flu shots have been available like this for years, never heard that kids can walk in and get one alone. You presumably must have ID and your child's information.

I imagine that they provide a record which can be added to your current medical records, and possibly added to an online record.

tante_feige

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 4:49 am

My local pharmacies don't vaccinate anyone under 18, due to many of the concerns cited above.

My (vaccinated) baby had whooping cough. The weakened current vaccine plus our community's whooping cough epidemic (caused by ridiculously low vax rates) intersected in a bad place.

The weakened vaccine results in a milder case... and there were still times that she r'l couldn't breath for 30 seconds. Imagine watching your child not breathe for THIRTY SECONDS!

Unless your child has a proven lethal allergy/intolerance, you are despicable.

Success10

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 5:14 am

tante_feige wrote:

She didn't say not to vax ever. Some parents do the delayed vax schedule (not me personally) and they understand the pros vs. cons. Some families have a history of severe reactions in babies and toddlers, so they prefer to wait. But it's not the same category as anti-vax. "Despicable" is a bit harsh.

amother

Chartreuse

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 5:33 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

My personal policy is:
- No vaccines before age 2
- 2 months between each vaccine
- No vaccines if child is even mildly ill
- Stop vaccinating altogether if there is a bad reaction

Until now, that has meant doing no vaccines at all, because it's hard to get a doctor to agree to such a schedule, and because it means making a million appointments at whatever time is convenient for the doctor instead of convenient for me.

I think this will be a positive development for everyone.

If you will only do one at a time, obviously it is going to take more appointments. And equally obviously, the doctor has his work hours, and you have to fit in with that. If you choose to follow a delayed schedule, that is your choice, but you need to put in the extra effort to make it work, not just use it as a excuse not to do anything.

Amarante

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 10:46 am

As far as I am aware, many large pharmacies offer vaccinations without a prescription. Adult doctors often don't even stock prescriptions but prescriptions for children vary in terms of availability and age of child. Many large pharmacies like CVS have actual clinics attached so that they can offer walk in medical care which would probably include vaccines for infants and younger children.

A pharmacy is not going to do anything for someone under 18 because that is not legal. Any kind of medical treatment of a minor requires the consent of parent or legal guardian.

amother

Slateblue

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 11:42 am

As an anti-vaxxer, I don't see this as a positive development at all. Vaccines need to be administered with proper informed consent, by a doctor who is the child's primary care physician who is aware of possible contraindications for that particular child as well as familial history, who will follow up with possible adverse reactions. Administration of vaccinations needs careful medical care which a pharmacist doesn't provide.

In addition, the psychological aspect of going to the pharmacy for a vaccine instead of a designated doctor downplays in people's minds the real possible harm that vaccines can cause. It becomes just like another vitamin you can pop when you want. Oh, it's no big deal, even pharmacies can give it to you.

Amarante

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 11:50 am

amother [ Slateblue ] wrote:

As someone who feels that vaccines are absolutely critical for public health of the population as well as individuals, I think that the ability to get vaccines easy and relatively inexpensively is wonderful.

It removes a barrier for people who might otherwise have problems getting appointments. Doctors in many areas are difficult to schedule appointments with. It is a wonderful way to distribute an essential product to areas which have limited access to doctors. People think in terms of NYC but there are rural areas where doctors are almost unavailable and you need to drive long distances. Wonderful that people can access basic care closer to where they live. To me it is like having flu shots at work places and senior citizens centers which increases people getting the shot because it is so simple.

It is not available for very young children except for those pharmacies which have a clinic which means there would be some type of higher level medical personnel available.

#BestBubby

Thu, Aug 20 2020, 12:16 pm

amother [ Slateblue ] wrote:

I am also an anti-vaxxer, and while I hear your point that it makes vaccines "over the counter"
(which is already true for flu shots),

I think it is worth it to give parents the option of delaying and spacing out vaccines, which doctors (afraid of losing their license) refuse to do.

amother

Fri, Aug 21 2020, 1:30 am

tante_feige wrote:

You do know that the whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine does NOT prevent you from transmitting pertussis to anyone else? (Look at the CDC's website yourself if you don't believe me.) The vaccine protects YOU, and nobody else. There is no herd immunity for pertussis.

My younger brother had pertussis when he was too young for a vaccine. Yes it was very very scary. I was still a kid (about 10) but I remember clearly.

But it had nothing to do with whether or not others vaccinated.

(This type of misunderstanding is common, and my research on this and many other vaccine misunderstandings is what led me to become a selective and delayed vaxxer.)

gold21

Fri, Aug 21 2020, 1:38 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

OK. I didn't believe you, so I checked the CDC website. Here you go:

Q: How contagious is pertussis?

A: Pertussis spreads easily from person to person through coughing and sneezing. A person with pertussis can infect up to 12 to 15 other people. That’s why being up to date with pertussis vaccines and practicing good cough and sneeze etiquette are so important.

amother

Wheat

Fri, Aug 21 2020, 1:48 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

All my kids received vaccines late no vaccinations before 9 months all under doctors care I’m now Bh pregnant after a big space and I would definitely make sure my doctor would do the same for future babies since she knows by the time my kids go to school they are fully up to date. I never miss a well visit etc.

But I see your very valid points

amother

Slateblue

Fri, Aug 21 2020, 9:46 am

gold21 wrote:

Of course what they don't tell you that a person who is vaccinated against pertussis can be an asymptomatic carrier of pertussis. (It protects them from being sick.) So if you're coughing and sneezing, you're hopefully staying away from babies, but if you're asymptomatic, you won't know to be careful.

gold21

Fri, Aug 21 2020, 10:18 am

amother [ Slateblue ] wrote:

That's different than what you said before though. (Were you referring to tetanus, which is actually only protective of oneself and not of others?)

Anyway, pertussis breakouts don't tend to be an issue within the confines of the vaxxed community itself.

amother

Fri, Aug 21 2020, 11:24 am

gold21 wrote:

You're looking at the wrong part of the website.

https://www.cdc.gov/pertussis/.....ented

"Q: I’ve heard about parents refusing to get their children vaccinated and travelers to the United States spreading disease; are they to blame for pertussis outbreaks?

A: Even though children who haven’t received DTaP vaccines are at least 8 times more likely to get pertussis than children who received all 5 recommended doses of DTaP, they are not the driving force behind the large-scale outbreaks or epidemics. However, their parents are putting them at greater risk of getting a serious pertussis infection and then possibly spreading it to other family or community members."

"Q: Doesn’t herd immunity protect most people?

A: When enough of a population is immune to an infectious disease, through vaccination or prior illness, its spread from person to person is unlikely. Public health experts call this ‘herd immunity’ (or community immunity). Even people not vaccinated (such as newborns and those with chronic illnesses) typically have protection because the disease has little opportunity to spread within their community. Public health experts cannot rely on herd immunity to protect people from pertussis since:

• Pertussis spreads so easily
• Vaccine protection decreases over time
• Acellular pertussis vaccines may not prevent colonization (carrying the bacteria in your body without getting sick) or spread of the bacteria
• Vaccines are the most effective tool doctors have to provide protection against pertussis. It’s important that everyone get their recommended pertussis vaccines to protect themselves."

(bolding mine)

amother

Rose

Sun, Aug 30 2020, 12:22 am

gold21 wrote:

I dont see anywhere in your quote, specifying that the vaccines prevent against transmission.
it says about being up to date on the vaccines which would be a good thing for ppl who feel that would protect them. where do you see that it says pertusis vaccine creates herd immunity or prevents others from getting infected. it says that pertusis can infect others. that's true. but having the vaccine will just prevent the affects and not the transmission

check out the attached study for further info on this.

asymptomatic transmission is the most parsimonious explanation for many of the observations surrounding the resurgence of B. pertussisin the US and UK.

asymptomatic transmission can account for the observed increase in B. pertussis incidence; and 5) vaccinating individuals in close contact with infants too young to receive the vaccine (“cocooning” unvaccinated children) may be ineffective.

Med. 2015; 13: 146 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p.....2312/