CVS and Walgreens, the country’s two largest pharmacy chains, are for now clamping down on offering Covid vaccines in more than a dozen states, even to people who meet newly restricted criteria from the Food and Drug Administration.
On Thursday, Amy Thibault, a spokeswoman for CVS, said the vaccine was not available at pharmacies in 16 states, citing “the current regulatory environment” and emphasizing that the list could change.
On Friday, CVS issued an update: It could administer vaccines in 13 of the 16 states, and in the District of Columbia, to people who had obtained a prescription from a doctor or other medical provider. (As of Friday morning, its online scheduling tool still did not allow anybody to book an appointment in those places; Ms. Thibault said an update was in progress.) In Massachusetts, Nevada and New Mexico, CVS still cannot offer the shots at all, Ms. Thibault said.
She did not provide an explanation for the change.
Walgreens said in a statement that it was “prepared to offer the vaccine in states where we are able to do so” to people who met the F.D.A. criteria. When a New York Times reporter tried to schedule vaccine appointments in all 50 states, the Walgreens website said patients would need a prescription in 16 of them. Though there is some overlap, it’s not the same set of 16 as CVS, underscoring the level of confusion.
The shifting requirements for vaccines have fueled deep uncertainty about whether — and where — Americans can access the shots.