New Law Lets Pharmacy Students Give Vaccines

Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. photo by Lisa Ferdinando. U.S. Secretary of Defense, (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons

Pharmacy students and technicians who have been trained in vaccination will join the ranks of people able to deliver the COVID-19 shot in Wisconsin.

Gov. Tony Evers signed legislation Friday expanding the roster of professionals authorized to give the vaccine to include pharmacy technicians and students. He signed the bill at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where he toured the on-campus COVID-19 vaccination clinic.

Under the new law, pharmacy students who have completed their first two years of pharmacy school may give the vaccine under the supervision of another health care provider who is authorized to administer the shot.

The law also allows certified pharmacy technicians to give the vaccine if they have taken a two-hour course in injection technique and in recognizing and treating vaccine reactions. The technician also must be certified in life support or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and must be supervised by a pharmacist trained in vaccination.

Reprinted with permission of Wisconsin Examiner.