Expanding Pharmacy Vaccination Authority: State Laws and Policy Pathways to Improve Vaccine Access

Vaccination remains one of the most effective public health tools for preventing serious and life‑threatening disease. Yet, adult vaccination rates continue to fall short of public health goals, and access challenges persist—particularly for individuals who face barriers to traditional health care settings. Community pharmacies are uniquely positioned to help close these gaps, offering convenient, trusted and widely available access points for vaccination services.

In a new webinar, Manatt Health presents findings from a comprehensive survey examining how all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, regulate the authority of pharmacy personnel—including pharmacists, pharmacy interns and pharmacy technicians—to order and administer vaccines. Drawing on an upcoming Manatt Health policy paper, the webinar explores how variations in state law and regulation can either facilitate or hinder vaccine access and highlights practical policy strategies to expand, stabilize and standardize vaccination authority nationwide.

Key topics that will be covered include:

• The critical role of pharmacy‑based vaccination in improving access, convenience and equity in adult immunization—particularly for communities with limited access to physician‑based care.
• A national overview of state laws governing vaccination authority for pharmacists, pharmacy interns and pharmacy technicians, including differences by vaccine type and requirements for supervision or third-party orders.
• How small variations in statutory and regulatory language can have outsized real‑world impacts on vaccine delivery and uptake.
• The evolving interaction between state vaccination authority and federal policies and recommendations, including those issued by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
• State policy opportunities to strengthen and future‑proof pharmacy vaccination authority, including strategies to broaden scope of practice, reduce administrative barriers and promote reliable access to vaccines.

Support for this presentation and the underlying research comes from Pfizer, Inc.

Speakers:

• , Partner, Manatt Health
• , Associate, Manatt Health
• Additional speakers to be announced

Date and Time:

Monday, May 11
1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET
10:00 – 11:00 a.m. PT