Pharmacies are no longer just for meds, now children can get immunized

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in August expanded the Public Readiness and Preparedness (PREP) Act, allowing pharmacists to give children ages 3 to 18 their immunizations without a doctor's prescription.

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNT) - The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services expanded the Public Readiness and Preparedness (PREP) Act in August, allowing pharmacists to give children ages 3 to 18 their immunizations without a doctor's prescription.

This came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported a decline in the number of vaccines ordered in a doctor's office due to the coronavirus pandemic in May.

"It's a very good recognition of a need in... not just our community, but throughout the state," said Dr. Mike Conlin, a pharmacist with Jayhawk Pharmacy and Supply in Topeka. "With COVID and what it's done to all of our lives and disrupting it, it gives folks a little sense of normalcy then."

This includes common immunizations like mumps, measles, whooping cough and meningitis.

The pharmacists must be trained on how to properly give vaccines and record them, which Conlin said many already have.

Conlin recommended parents check what immunizations their child needs, and reaching out to their local pharmacy to see if they administer them.