COVID-19 vaccine; Wisconsin issues order to expand access without prescription

COVID-19 vaccine; Wisconsin issues order to expand access without prescription

Wisconsin?s DHS issued a statewide standing medical order allowing most residents, ages six months and older, to get the COVID-19 vaccine without a prescription.

MADISON, Wis. - Wisconsin health officials have issued a statewide standing medical order allowing most residents to get the latest COVID-19 vaccine without a prescription.

What we know:

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said school-year vaccination rates across Wisconsin held steady for 2024–25. Now, state leaders are working to broaden COVID-19 access, recommending the vaccine for everyone six months and older.

For the past 10 days, pharmacists said they faced confusion about federal restrictions on who could get the updated vaccine. Wisconsinites under 65 had hurdles to get the new COVID-19 vaccine. 

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Now, the state is going around federal restrictions.

Local perspective:

Hashim Zaibak, CEO of Hayat Pharmacy, can now roll up his sleeves after previously being caught in a tangled web of red tape.

"The directions from the federal administration was not very clear. Do we need a prescription for it? Do we not need a prescription if the patient is not, let's say younger than 65? Do we need to contact the primary care physician to get a prescription? So there was a lot of confusion," said Zaibak. "I know other pharmacists who turn some patients away because of lack of prescription."

On Monday, Gov. Tony Evers directed DHS to issue its own statewide order, which the DHS did Tuesday. It’s called a standing order.

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Officials said it acts like a doctor’s note for the whole state, allowing pharmacists to vaccinate residents six months and older – not just who the federal government approved it for.

"We thought it was important in this case because the review of the science suggested that the risks and benefits of COVID-19 vaccination haven’t changed, that the data still support use among all ages," said Dr. Ryan Westergaard, chief medical officer for the DHS Bureau of Communicable Diseases.

Dig deeper:

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services criticized the move, with a spokesman pointing to what he called "unscientific school lockdowns" in Democrat-run states and arguing that federal policy is based on "gold standard science."

The American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups, however, have encouraged broad access to the vaccine.