NCPA sent letters of support to members of the Texas House Committee on Public Health in support of House Bill 1150 and House Bill 2079. HB 1150 authorizes licensed pharmacists to independently order and administer vaccines to individuals 3 years and older, and HB 2079 expands pharmacists’ scope of practice to prescribe medications pursuant to Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waived tests. Texas pharmacists have been administering vaccines and tests since October 2020 when the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued guidance under the COVID-19 PREP Act declaration to permit qualified pharmacy technicians under a pharmacist’s supervision to administer FDA-approved vaccines to individuals 3 and older. This bill will keep these new authorities in place as the PREP Act declaration for COVID-19 medical countermeasures expires in 2024.
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