Consumers Support PREP Act Extension

Nearly two thirds of Americans — 64% — support keeping the additional pharmacy services allowed by the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) in place, according to a December poll by Morning Consult commissioned by NACDS.

Among seniors, that figure rises to 77%, and the agreement spans political ideologies, said Chris Krese, senior VP of congressional relations and communications, NACDS.

“Americans have gotten used to the access that they rely on at their pharmacies, and they want it to stay,” he said.

NACDS is calling for the PREP Act to be extended through October 2024, which would allow more states to replicate it, Krese said.

Extension of the PREP Act

Another key focus of NACDS in the year ahead is to push for the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) to be extended for pharmacy services. The PREP Act allows pharmacy technicians and interns to administer certain vaccines.

Krese said NACDS is pushing for the Pres. Biden administration to extend these pharmacy services until October of 2024.

“This is really important, because we are hearing more and more about the imminence of the public health emergency ending, and the move to commercialization for vaccines, and testing, and antivirals,” he said. “When those two things happen — the end of the public health emergency and the commercialization of these countermeasures — the PREP Act is going to end for pharmacy services. That’s going to impact patients, and it’s going to impact pharmacies.”

For example, the PREP Act allows pharmacy technicians to provide flu vaccinations to adults. which most states otherwise do not allow. If pharmacy technicians are no longer allowed to give flu shots to adults that would be the equivalent of removing about 40% of the nation’s vaccination capacity, Krese said.

That will result in longer lines and longer wait times for patients seeking vaccines, and potentially the loss of access to vaccines for some patients in some locations.

“Plus, it’s just very difficult to plan a pharmacy workforce when you don’t know a few months down the road what certain professionals in your pharmacies are going to be able to do or not do,” said Krese.

NACDS would like to see states replicate the PREP Act at the state level during the extended time that the PREP Act remains in effect, he said.

The recent confluence of flu, COVID and another virus, RSV, reinforce the need for these expanded services, Krese said. “I think a lot of policy makers unfortunately forget that you can’t just turn these services on and off.”

In addition, NACDS is also advocating for legislation at the federal level that would set up a reliable payment mechanism in Medicare for pandemic-related services.

“We had tremendous success in 2021 and 2022 in building support for this legislation,” said Krese. “What we need to do in this next Congress is get this over the goal line so we can make it a reality.” dsn