While the United States is looking for ways to speed up the administration of Covid-19 vaccines, some states and providers are turning to non-traditional vaccinators, including dentists, retirees and students, to help them in the process.
On Monday, the California Department of Consumer Affairs approved an emergency exemption that allowed dentists to administer Covid-19 vaccines to people 16 years of age or older. The American Dental Association claims that dentists are licensed to administer the vaccine in several states, including Oregon, where the first U.S. dentist to administer a Covid-19 vaccine did so last month.
Some health systems, such as the Mount Sinai Health System in New York and Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), are taking advantage of a well of newly trained nursing, medical and dental students to help with vaccination effort.
“We have used some atypical vaccinators because we try to prioritize keeping our licensed nurses in bed,” said Dr. Sarah Nafziger, a professor of emergency medicine at the UAB. “While we are deploying the vaccine, we are simultaneously facing a wave of patients.”
Some jurisdictions are looking for retired health workers, who have the skills to administer vaccines and do not actively care for Covid-19 patients.
“Many retired doctors are standing up to act as vaccinators,” New Jersey State Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said during a news conference Wednesday.
Covid-19 vaccinators must be trained and licensed.
Dr. William Reynolds, president of the American Optometric Association, says optometrists are an unexplored resource in the vaccination effort. He said they are widely distributed and ready to enter smaller, rural communities that may need more labor.
The association states that 19 states allow optometrists to administer drugs by injection, and in California they can administer flu and shingles vaccines, but they are not authorized to administer the Covid-19 vaccine, specifically.
“We want to be part of the solution,” Reynolds said.