As the Trump administration narrows its recommendations on who should be vaccinated for COVID, a seemingly mundane provision within state law threw access to the vaccine in Nevada into question.

But newly released guidance of the law and regulations issued by the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy on Friday and obtained by The Nevada Independent aims to clear the way for pharmacies to provide the vaccine. 

Two major pharmacies — Walgreens and CVS — had for the last week held off on offering the vaccine in Nevada over concerns it would get too far ahead of federal recommendations relied on in state law. 

“Following today’s regulatory action by the Nevada Board of Pharmacy, CVS Pharmacy will ensure COVID-19 vaccinations are available as soon as possible at our pharmacies throughout the state,” Amy Thibault, a spokesperson for the company, wrote in an email to The Nevada Independent.

CVS and Walgreens didn’t immediately answer questions Friday about whether they would begin providing the shots as a result of the new guidance.

The board’s Friday opinion addressed confusion over a requirement in Nevada law that registered pharmacists comply with recommendations and practices approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). Insurance coverage for vaccines is often tied to the committee-recommended vaccines.

Executive Secretary of the Nevada State Board of Pharmacy J. David Wuest told The Nevada Independent in an interview Friday that the goal of the guidance is to pave the way for major pharmacies to administer vaccines in a legal manner.

He added that Nevada law always allowed pharmacists to administer the updated COVID-19 vaccine, and the issues stemmed from confusion surrounding the law's language.

“I know this has been a confusing situation, and that’s why we put out the guidance as soon as we could,” Wuest said.
“Those [vaccination] paths were always available.”

Uncertainty around the vaccines has emerged from contradicting guidance about COVID vaccines for children, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) restrictions on eligibility, shifting its recommendation for COVID vaccines from anyone 6 months and older to only people 65 or older and others at high risk of complications. 

The CDC has also stopped recommending the vaccine for pregnant women and children — conflicting with recommendations from major medical associations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics.

The federal immunization advisory committee is not scheduled to meet until Sept. 18 to discuss and recommend vaccines, including the updated COVID-19 vaccine, which, like the flu vaccine, is updated yearly. With no guidance or approval from the committee on the latest COVID-19 vaccine, the interpretation by major pharmacies CVS and Walgreens had been that they cannot administer it.

Friday’s guidance clarifies that pharmacists can widely administer vaccines; the pharmacy board says it does not construe the Nevada regulation as a prohibition against administering drugs pending approval by the federal committee. The guidance noted that a pharmacist may administer any FDA-approved vaccine, including the latest COVID-19 update, with a prescription, and a pharmacist may also administer any FDA-approved vaccine under a collaborative practice agreement.

It notes that as far as the ACIP goes, if the committee has issued recommendations surrounding a vaccine in the past, then the pharmacist may administer the vaccine if the pharmacist believes that the previous recommendations provide “adequate guidance.” 

“Once the ACIP issues product-specific recommendations, a pharmacist may follow those recommendations,” the Board of Pharmacy wrote in the guidance.

Wuest said that as long as pharmacists meet one of the standards of the three pathways outlined in the guidance, then they should be able to administer the vaccine.

He added that there was a limited amount of the latest COVID-19 vaccine when it first came out, but there’s not yet wide access in the state. He said though pharmacies may have ordered the new vaccine, it may not have arrived yet, and that’s another reason individuals may not be able to access the latest vaccine, rather than a legal interpretation.

“My expectation is there will be more, and more vaccine will come in as it becomes less limited,” Wuest said. “The public should not get discouraged if they’ve gone to the pharmacy and they were told they can’t get it or didn’t have it or whatever. Because I think more will be on the way.”

The advisory committee includes 15 voting members and typically holds three meetings a year to determine vaccine recommendations.

Changing federal guidance on vaccines

The confusion and uncertainty about access to the COVID-19 vaccines comes as research shows Nevada ranks 44th lowest in the nation for vaccination, with vaccine rates among adults in Nevada significantly lower than the national average. Child immunization rates have also declined since the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines, which Nevada health officials have warned in the past stems in part from a lack of “vaccine confidence.”

Adding to the chaos of conflicting federal vaccine recommendations was Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s firing of 17 members of the ACIP and replacing them with eight people, some of whom are skeptical of vaccines. One of the new members later resigned.

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro (D-Las Vegas) issued a statement Thursday condemning the “sudden, baseless change in federal policy” that led to the lack of access to COVID vaccines in Nevada. She said she has directed legislative staff to explore options to address the crisis.

In response to the firing of members of the advisory committee, among other changes at the CDC and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, officials in Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii announced the intention to launch the West Coast Health Alliance this week “in a shared commitment to safeguard public health.”

A press release from California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office said the alliance addresses federal actions that have undermined the independence of the CDC, and aims to “ensure residents remain protected by science, not politics.”

Meanwhile, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis announced plans to eliminate vaccine mandates, including for children in schools, with the State Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo likening them to slavery.

In Nevada, Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo has not yet responded to emailed questions sent by The Nevada Independent on Thursday about whether he will join the West Coast Health Alliance or if he supports DeSantis’ efforts.

At a February IndyTalks event last year, Lombardo said vaccines should be a “personal choice.”

As for a question about mandating childhood vaccinations, Lombardo said parents should play a role in the decision and support for or against vaccines shouldn’t lead people to be “marginalized.”

The World Health Organization reported in 2024 that vaccines saved at least 154 million lives globally in the past 50 years, with the majority of those being infants and children.

Public health experts widely consider vaccine mandates to be an essential part of preventing disease outbreaks and increasing vaccination rates, which protect the broader community.

The American Academy of Pediatrics warned that the Food and Drug Administration’s recent changes limit options for young children to be vaccinated and are “deeply troubling,” a sentiment echoed by Republican and Democratic senators during a Thursday Senate hearing. Many mentioned the Trump administration’s successful efforts to launch a safe COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic and the lives that were saved as a result.

“In your confirmation hearings, you promised to uphold the highest standards for vaccines. Since then, I’ve grown deeply concerned,” Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), a medical doctor, told Kennedy during the hearing. “I’ve been hearing from many of my medical colleagues, and there are real concerns that safe, proven vaccines like measles, like hepatitis B and others, could be in jeopardy and that would put Americans at risk and reverse decades of progress.”

Kennedy, however, argued that he was addressing a lack of good data and that he had support from doctors and scientists across the country.

Where can you get the latest COVID-19 vaccine in Nevada?

Health districts

Officials with the Southern Nevada Health District and Northern Nevada Public Health told The Nevada Independent they are not offering the vaccine that was approved last year, but plan to provide the updated COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available, likely in late September or early October.

Officials with Northern Nevada Public Health said Thursday they received guidance from the state to not offer the 2024-2025 version of the COVID-19 vaccine, effective immediately, but to wait until the updated COVID-19 vaccine is available.

When the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets on Sept. 18, officials from both districts acknowledge that insurance coverage for the vaccine may be adjusted once the committee issues its final recommendations. 

Individual doctor’s office

The Nevada State Medical Association did not immediately respond to a phone call or email requesting details about whether patients could access COVID-19 vaccines through their doctor’s office.

The Nevada Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics did not immediately respond to a similar inquiry. 

Smaller, independent pharmacies

The Nevada Pharmacy Alliance did not immediately respond to an email requesting details about whether patients could access COVID-19 vaccines through independent or small pharmacies.

Renown Health

Caroline Ackerman, a spokesperson for Renown Health, said the not-for-profit health care system in Northern Nevada is not offering last year’s COVID-19 vaccine because it’s no longer effective against the current strain of COVID.

When the new vaccine becomes available, Ackerman said, the health system will begin distributing it through Renown pharmacy locations. Renown will announce when they receive the latest iteration of the vaccine.

This story was updated on 9/5/2025 at 5:12 p.m. to include more details on vaccinations and again at 6:16 p.m. to include that CVS is going to be offering COVID-19 vaccines in response to the guidance.