COVID booster for a tourist in the US?

February 7, 2023 5:42 AM

I live in the UK where they don't give the annual COVID boosters to people under 50. I'll be in the US in April and would like to walk in somewhere and pay for one. Is that possible? If it is, could you explain like I'm 5 how to do it?

I am vaccinated, but looking for a booster while I'm travelling. Only want to do this if it's possible without lying about my residency or circumstances. I can book an appointment at a drugstore like Walgreens online, but will I need proof of US address or insurance?

posted by abecedarium radiolarium to Health & Fitness (10 answers total)

For where you are in the USA: look up their local department of health. If it's a large city, it will have a local health department. If it's not a large city, then I'd just look up the state department of health. Or, generally, you could google "COVID vaccine [my destination]" and look for information from the public sector. There should be pretty easy-to-find information about who's administering vaccines and how to access them.

Otherwise, you could make an appointment at a corporate pharmacy chain (like CVS, Duane Reade / Walgreens). Many of these do vaccinations, and probably have covid vaccines on hand.
posted by entropone at 5:51 AM on February 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

The chains stores might expect health insurance to pay for the shots, so be sure to ask about any cost.
posted by wenestvedt at 6:01 AM on February 7, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: To the point above, COVID boosters are currently subsidized by the federal government for anyone who wants one so you won't need to show proof of insurance, ID, etc. FWIW, I'm American but living in the UK for work. When I was in the US in October, I made an appointment at a small town Walgreens online (which you should do) and brought my passport in case I needed some sort of ID. I have no US proof of address, and none was requested. The influenza vaccination I got at the same time, though, I paid out of pocket for.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 6:17 AM on February 7, 2023 [7 favorites]

Best answer: If it's very important to you to be able to self-pay, I'd call a travel clinic or a large, centrally-located CVS or Walgreens (or similar) in a city you'll be traveling to, and ask them what their procedure would be. Officially, in my state, free COVID vaccines are available to "anyone who lives, works, or studies in Massachusetts." So any kind of self-pay is going to be sufficiently unusual that your average CVS/Walgreens vaccinator might not know how to bill it.

In general though, if you can get through the whole online vaccine appointment signup without lying, IIRC no one is going to ask you more questions at the time you show up for the actual shot. You'll say you don't have US insurance, you'll show your passport, you may or may not get billed depending on the state and whether the vaccinator bills it correctly. (FWIW CVS billed my insurance for $57 of which the insurance paid $45, so that's probably the kind of cost you're looking at.)

I think you do need a US phone number to make an appointment on most of the pharmacy websites.
posted by mskyle at 6:31 AM on February 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

Google for a local pharmacy that offers vaccines/ boosters. Some require appointments made online, but some are walk-in. You can call beforehand and walk in and ask, if their website doesn't specify.

When getting the vaccine youll need to fill out paperwork. Write down your hotel/airbnb address just to put something down. Check off the "no insurance" box on the form. Some pharmacies ask for a social security number if you don't have insurance, but some don't. Hopefully they won't need one. Don't feel embarrassed if it doesn't work out, try another pharmacy if needed. Show your passport for ID if needed.
posted by never.was.and.never.will.be. at 6:32 AM on February 7, 2023

In Minnesota, I am still asked for my insurance when I get boosters, so this will vary. For my first two shots, it was a cattle call situation with my clinic and they had big signs that they are asking for insurance (or verifying what they have on file) because the vaccine is free but they can charge insurance for administration costs. My last two have been at a local pharmacy (inside a grocery store) and they also verified my insurance.

The Federal subsidies will end in May, so April might be too early for your average pharmacy to have a payment option in place. Even people without insurance today can get them for free right now.
posted by soelo at 6:35 AM on February 7, 2023

The Federal subsidies will end in May

Nevertheless the existing, already-purchased government-owned stock of booster doses will last longer than that (possibly for months).
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 7:04 AM on February 7, 2023

You do not need to be 50+ or vulnerable to do this in the UK - nor do you need to lie about your circumstances.

I recommend the following steps:

* Find a pharmacy doing walk-in vaccinations near you via the NHS search
* At the pharmacy, you will be asked to fill in a form, with things like your name, address, NHS number, and a section on your eligibility for the vaccine. Leave the eligibility section blank.
* Hand form to pharmacist. Wait as pharmacist enters things into their computer.
* Pharmacist injects you

There are plenty of boosters, and fairly low take-up, so you are not taking a vaccine from someone who needs it more. And pharmacists seem keen to vaccinate people.

You may not be able to do this after the 12th Feb, so if you can, I would do it now.
posted by siskin at 8:03 AM on February 7, 2023 [2 favorites]

Response by poster: Thanks all! Glad this looks quite possible. I'll start with the local Walgreens and cross my fingers.

Siskin, I'm in Scotland which (from what I can tell) is being strict about not boosting healthy under-50s (no knock on our NHS though which is doing an amazing job in tricky times)
posted by abecedarium radiolarium at 9:04 AM on February 7, 2023

I'm going to suggest a slightly different strategy, which is to request a vaccine from an independent pharmacy (not CVS, Wallgreen, etc.) In my experience as a vaccinator at a local independent pharmacy we are much more familiar with exceptions, and do not require appointments. We often vaccinate people who are foreign nationals and have never refused to vaccinate anyone with a Covid 19 vaccine. We will issue you a CDC paper card with the date, vaccine manufacturer and lot # for your record, and in my state it will be electronically recorded in the Health Department's vaccine registry should you lose your paper documentation (your paper CDC card, issued to you when you are vaccinated. Each state will have a different policy about this. There is currently no charge for the vaccine itself due to the governmental subsidy, but April 1 is the date that policy is expected to change, and I expect you will need to pay for both the vaccine and the administration after that. There is no requirement that people are insured, or are Americans, to receive vaccines - I've vaccinated plenty of people who did not have insurance, including foreign nationals, and it was never an issue.

If you have a document with your previous vaccination do bring it with you to show the pharmacist so we can document the last vaccination. Have a great trip!
posted by citygirl at 9:19 AM on February 7, 2023 [2 favorites]