The COVID-19 vaccine is on the verge of approval. Should your dentist and eye doctor be able to administer the vaccine? Rachel Bluth reports for Kaiser Health News that dentists and optometrists are making the case that it would be far easier for you to get the vaccine and help ensure everyone is vaccinated.
The data and evidence suggest that it should not only be physicians who administer the vaccine. As it is, pharmacists are allowed to administer the flu shot and the shingles vaccine. Why are they any better equipped to administer a vaccine than a dentist or optometrist?
Dentists already deliver injections. Delivering the COVID vaccine is not complicated. So, why not let dentists deliver the vaccine and help maximize uptake?
Moreover, each year lots of people see a dentist without ever seeing a doctor. More than 31 million people visited the dentist in 2017 but not a doctor.
The American Association of Dental Boards reports that more than 25 states are looking into having dentists give people the COVID vaccine. The state of Oregon already allows dentists to provide vaccines to their adult and child patients after undergoing a training and certification program. And, Minnesota and Illinois allow dentists to give adult patients flu shots.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services supports expanding the number of health care providers who can administer the COVID vaccine. The dentists and eye doctors make a compelling case as to why their ability to provide the COVID vaccine will be a service to their patients. Dentists and eye doctors also would benefit some financially.
Some states have previously expanded the array of health care workers who could deliver a vaccine for a temporary period. They allowed nursing students, midwifes and emergency medical technicians to deliver the flu vaccine during the H1N1 pandemic.
Some argue the more the merrier when it comes to having the authority to deliver a vaccine. The COVID vaccine is pretty easy to administer and low-risk. But, approvals take time, so it is not likely that too many people other than physicians and pharmacists will be able to administer the COVID vaccine this go-round.
N.B. No one appears to object to dentists and optometrists delivering vaccines. If approved to give the vaccine, health care providers will have to gauge the number of vaccines to buy and how to store them properly under special conditions. If they buy too many, they will be stuck with them. It would be against their financial interest.
Here’s more from Just Care:
