Helen Gregg, 38, was about three months pregnant with twins when she tried to get a Covid vaccine last month.
She scheduled a shot at a Walgreens in La Grange, Ill. But when she arrived for her appointment, and identified pregnancy as the high-risk medical condition that qualified her for the vaccine under newly restrictive Food and Drug Administration criteria, the pharmacist said it didn’t count.
“We told her that pregnancy was listed as a qualifying health condition on Walgreens’ website,” said Ryan Huffman, Ms. Gregg’s husband. “But the pharmacist shrugged and said everything was changing quickly and the website was likely incorrect.”
It was the pharmacist who was incorrect about Ms. Gregg’s eligibility; a Walgreens spokesman confirmed to The New York Times that the company considered pregnancy a qualifying condition. But the mix-up was not shocking. Across the country, patients, pharmacists and doctors have been left to parse mixed and muddled messages from federal agencies and the nation’s public health officials.
Pregnancy remains on the list of conditions that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says carry a clear increased risk of severe illness from Covid — a list that many pharmacies use to determine who can get a vaccine. A representative for the Department of Health and Human Services wrote in a statement that current and recently pregnant women were considered high-risk groups.
Yet in May, the C.D.C. stopped recommending Covid vaccination for pregnant women who are otherwise healthy, confusing some patients and medical providers. Pharmacies administer most Covid shots — but some are turning pregnant women away.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post Covid Shots Protect Pregnant Women, but Getting Them Now Can Be Hard appeared first on New York Times.
