Eighth Amendement to Declaration Under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act
On August 4, 2021, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) issued the Eighth Amendment to Declaration Under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act. As you may recall, a previous Amendment authorized certain pharmacy personnel to administer certain vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine.
The Eight Amendment “expand[s] the scope of authority for qualified pharmacy technicians to administer seasonal influenza vaccines to adults within the state where they are authorized to practice and for interns to administer seasonal influenza vaccines to adults consistent with other terms and conditions of the Declaration.”
Thus, the Declaration currently covers:
State-licensed pharmacist who orders and administers, and pharmacy interns and qualified pharmacy technicians who administer (if the pharmacy intern or technician acts under the supervision of such pharmacist and the pharmacy intern or technician is licensed or registered by his or her State board of pharmacy), (1) vaccines that the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommends to persons ages three through 18 according to ACIP’s standard immunization schedule or (2) seasonal influenza vaccine administered by qualified pharmacy technicians and interns that the ACIP recommends to persons aged 19 and older according to ACIP’s standard immunization schedule; or (3) FDA authorized or FDA licensed COVID -19 vaccines to persons ages three or older. Such State-licensed pharmacists and the State-licensed or registered interns or technicians under their supervision are qualified persons only if certain requirements contained in the Amended Declaration are met.
You may view the complete Eighth Amendment to Declaration Under the PREP Act here. You may also wish to view the Board’s January 27, 2021 article providing an overview of the PREP Act, which may be found here.
Finally, as a reminder, the PREP Act preempts, or supersedes, State law. Thus, the Board has no jurisdiction over practice occurring under the authority granted by the PREP Act and any questions regarding the Declarations should be directed to the Department of Health and Human Services.