In recent days, residents of Virginia and other states began to need a prescription from their primary care provider in order to get a COVID vaccine, a change prompted by shifting federal requirements. An order the Virginia Department of Health issued Wednesday now makes it easier for eligible Virginians to get vaccines in the weeks ahead.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently ended broad emergency authorizations for COVID vaccines that have been in place since vaccines first rolled out for the global pandemic. Under that new federal rule, health care providers and pharmacists could no longer freely offer COVID shots to the public. The new standing order allows Virginians 18 and older to still receive vaccines, sans prescription.

The new federal requirements to be 64 and older

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