Woonsocket Radio News Room

Britto legislation would allow pharmacists to administer vaccines, regardless of age

 

STATE HOUSE — Sen. Robert Britto (D-Dist. 18, East Providence, Pawtucket) has introduced legislation that would allow pharmacists to administer vaccines to patients of all ages. The bill is part of a package of legislation introduced in the Senate focused on addressing health care accessibility and affordability.

Pharmacists already administer these vaccines to adults, and were temporarily permitted to administer vaccines to all age groups during the COVID pandemic. The bill (2025-S 0166) would clarify state law to enable pharmacists to administer vaccines to all eligible patients, regardless of age.

“This legislation continues the work we started in the Senate to empower pharmacists to put the vast resources of their knowledge to work for the people of Rhode Island,” said Senator Britto. “Pharmacists are an important part of every patient’s medical care team. As we struggle to find ways to combat the shortage of primary care physicians, we must focus more on these under-utilized health care professionals.”

The legislation has been referred to the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. The measure is one of nine that the Senate has introduced to remove burdensome administrative requirements that present barriers to patient care, protect patients from crushing medical debt, and otherwise improve access and lower costs.                                                          

A federal judge is blocking parts of President Trump's executive orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the federal government. On Friday, the judge halted Trump's orders to cancel federal contracts concerning DEI, and his order to make government contractors prove they don't use DEI practices. The judge's injunction does not block the Department of Justice from making lists of companies and universities to investigate.        Hamas is releasing another set of human remains after Israel demanded they hand over the body of a mother taken hostage. Hamas released four bodies on Thursday, but Israel was outraged when the remains of Shiri Bibas were not among them. On Friday, the leader of Hamas said Bibas' remains have now been given to Israel.        The Supreme Court says it will prevent President Trump from firing the head of a top watchdog agency for now. Trump has been trying to fire Hampton Dellinger, who leads the Office of Special Counsel, but so far has been blocked by lower courts. On Friday, the Supreme Court neither granted nor denied Trump's request to fire Dellinger, instead saying they're choosing not to act because lower court proceedings are moving quickly.        The Trump administration is reversing its decision to make major cuts to the World Trade Center Health Program. The program provides medical treatment to over a-hundred-thousand first responders and survivors of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Officials say they're reinstating research grants that had been cut, and employees who were fired will be allowed to return to their jobs.        White House officials say federal aid for the Los Angeles wildfires will come with strings attached. In an interview with Politico, Trump envoy Richard Grenell said "The federal response is mostly money and so we are going to have strings on the money that we give to California." Grenell didn't specify what the conditions would be, but did say the California Coastal Commisison, which protects the state's coastlines, should be "defunded."        Hackers have made away with one-point-five-billion-dollars in the largest crypto heist in history. Bybit, a major cryptocurrency exchange, announced the news Friday. The hackers compromised an offline storage system, and the stolen funds were quickly transferred and liquidated through various platforms.       

Old News Archives