A Texas woman claims a pharmacy refused to give her a vaccine despite her rheumatologist writing her a prescription. She went to a local Walgreens to receive her second dose of the vaccine, which she was getting because she is immunocompromised and has lupus. However, she was allegedly informed, “Doesn’t matter. You’re too young.” The video has over 61,000 views and over 4,400 comments since it was posted.
She explains, “I was denied a vaccine today in Texas, and I’m still kind of shocked.” The woman claims she went to the same location where she received the first dose. Then, after making an appointment and signing in, the pharmacist informed her that he couldn’t give it to her. When she questioned why, she was told, “You’re too young. Shingles vaccines are for people 50 and older.” When she pointed out that she already had the first dose, he called that a mistake and said they shouldn’t have given it to her.
At first, the Texas woman claims he argued with her about having a prescription until he saw in their records that she had it done in February. However, “he still refused to give [her] the vaccine.” The woman claims she explained the situation and that she had brought in a paper prescription from her doctor. He still allegedly told her no. She explains, “What do you want me to do? You are now messing up a lot for me.” Additionally, the woman is in the middle of a steroid taper, which can’t be moved until she gets the vaccine. This also has to time right with her immunosuppression, which can’t be done too close to getting infused. However, the pharmacist still allegedly refused.
Pharmacists Respond To Texas Woman’s Situation
The Texas woman states that at first she felt she was overreacting to the situation. However, after posting the story on Threads, she had pharmacists reach out to her, informing her that “what he did was basically refus[e] to fill a prescription.” This led her to post the situation on TikTok. Several pharmacists responded to the alleged incident, stating, “Pharmacist here… that’s insane and look into reporting to the state board.”
Meanwhile, others support her complaints, stating, “Pharmacists are typically very well informed. This guy overstepped. Stood his ground when he had no ground to stand on.” Another calls out the pharmacy, “Too many Walgreens pharmacy playing doctor. The God complex is real.” Another commenter adds, “Too many pharmacists like to overrule Drs. just as a power play.” However, many are proud of her for standing her ground: “I’m really glad you’re fighting this because they need to quit trying to make medical decisions.”
The Texas woman hasn’t stated whether or not she’ll go elsewhere to receive the vaccine, or what she plans to do about the situation.
