For some, a COVID-19 vaccine means jumping through hoops or hitting the road

Michelle Newmark has tried — and failed — a couple times to get an updated COVID-19 vaccine.

First, she was told she needed a prescription. Then she learned that her local CVS drugstore won't have shots for a couple more weeks. The Reston, Virginia, resident was considering a drive to Maryland to get vaccinated before a friend told her of a closer CVS that was booking appointments.

What was once a simple process has become “a whole different beast this year,” Newmark said.

“It’s very frustrating that I can’t get a vaccine that I feel should be widely available like it always has been in the past,” she said.

The debut of updated COVID-19 vaccines has gotten off to a clunky start in many states. Limits on who can get the shots and prescription requirements are confusing customers and leaving some people worried about whether they will get protection from the virus this fall.

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has insisted that everyone who wants a shot still can get one after consulting with a doctor, but he also told a Senate committee hearing Thursday that this access “depends on the states.”

The situation is changing daily and varies by state. And it may take time for vaccine-seekers to understand how the system works now for them.

“We anticipate it will get to be a little bit more of a smooth road in the coming weeks,” said Brigid Groves, a vice president with the American Pharmacists Association.

In the meantime, challenges are cropping up, and some patients are hitting the road to get vaccinated.

Lee Yarosh made plans to drive about 30 miles from Ossining, New York, to a Fairfield, Connecticut, drugstore to get vaccinated because the 71-year-old retiree couldn't schedule a vaccine closer to home.

On Friday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order allowing pharmacists to administer the vaccine to patients as young as 3. But Yarosh is keeping his Monday appointment in Connecticut because he needs the vaccination ahead of a trip to Europe.

Chris Stone said he tried about five times to book a COVID-19 shot appointment online at his usual drugstore, but he was only allowed to schedule a flu vaccination. The 69-year-old Richmond, Virginia, resident said he expects to get the shot from his doctor during a checkup next month. But he doesn’t want to wait that long.

“If they fiddle around too long … it’s going to be really hard to get the coverage you want during the winter season,” Stone said.

Most Americans get their COVID-19 vaccines at drugstores, and many seek shots in the late summer or early fall to get protection against any winter surges in cases.

Pharmacists in most states can administer updated vaccinations without a prescription thanks to approval of the shots from the Food and Drug Administration last week.

But several states are requiring prescriptions — which are normally not needed for vaccines — as they wait for a recommendation on the shots from a committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That committee won’t meet until later this month.

Some states, including Pennsylvania and New Mexico, were waiting for that recommendation before allowing pharmacists to give the vaccines. But they have since changed rules to let pharmacists start vaccinating sooner.

Before that, Pennsylvania drugstore owner Marc Ost said his store fielded more than 50 calls from customers asking about the COVID-19 shots. His pharmacists couldn't administer the shots until the state changed the rules on Wednesday.

“There’s been a lot of confusion as to what we can and can’t do and a lot unclear guidance,” said Ost, co-owner of Eric’s RX Shoppe in Horsham, outside Philadelphia.

In New Mexico, pharmacists were given the go-ahead to give COVID-19 shots based on state health department guidelines, with Health Secretary Gina DeBlassie saying in a statement that the state “cannot afford to wait for the federal government to act on this matter.”

As of Friday morning, CVS Health — the nation’s largest drugstore chain — said its pharmacists can provide vaccines without a prescription in 38 states. Prescriptions are required in 11 states plus Washington, D.C., but its pharmacists cannot give the shots in Nevada.

In some states where CVS runs in-store clinics, customers can get vaccinated there even if they can't get a shot at the store pharmacy counter, spokesperson Amy Thibault said. She noted that the pharmacies and clinics are governed by different regulators.

New limits on who can get a vaccine also are raising questions among customers. Previously in the U.S., the vaccines were recommended for people ages 6 months and older.

But the recent FDA approval limits the shots for people age 65 and older and those younger who have a health condition that makes them high-risk for a serious case of COVID-19.

Doctors and pharmacists say they still expect many people to qualify for the shots because the list of conditions that would make someone high-risk is long. It includes ex-smokers and people who are physically inactive.

And pharmacists will mostly rely on the patient’s word that they have a condition that makes them eligible for a shot.

Even so, the fact that there are now limitations worries Jen Spector.

The 57-year-old Doylestown, Pennsylvania, resident should easily qualify for a shot because she has diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and some other medical conditions. Still, Spector says she’s nervous that someone will turn her down when she tries to get vaccinated.

“If I get sick, it could take my body a year to heal from all this,” she said. “My immune system is crap.”

Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre contributed from Albany, New York.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Co-owner Marc Ost at Eric's Rx Shoppe holds a box of COVID-19 vaccines as he unpacks a shipment in Horsham, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Marc Ost co-owner at Eric's Rx Shoppe speaks during an interview in Horsham, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Co-owner Marc Ost at Eric's Rx Shoppe unpacks a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines in Horsham, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Co-owner Eric Abramowitz at Eric's Rx Shoppe unpacks a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines at the store in Horsham, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Marc Ost co-owner at Eric's Rx Shoppe wheels in part of a shipment of COVID-19 vaccines into the store in Horsham, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Co-owner Marc Ost at Eric's Rx Shoppe holds a box of COVID-19 vaccines as he unpacks a shipment in Horsham, Pa., Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Coco Gauff and Venus Williams could meet in the second round of the Australian Open, another potential chapter in a tennis tale that started with a 15-year-old on her Grand Slam debut beating a seven-time major winner at Wimbledon.

Gauff thanked Williams for being such an inspiration for her career after that win at the All England Club in 2019, saying “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.”

She followed it up with a first-round win at the Australian Open in 2020.

Now she’s the No. 3 seed and a two-time major winner. The 45-year-old Williams has a wild-card entry for the Australian Open, where she’s playing for the first time in five years.

The tournament starts Sunday at Melbourne Park. When the draw was conducted Thursday, Gauff was drawn to open against No. 91-ranked Kamilla Rakhimova and No. 576-ranked Williams — who made her Australian Open debut in 1998 and has twice reached the final — was drawn to face No. 68-ranked Olga Danilovic in the first round.

Williams is set to become the oldest woman to compete in an Australian Open main draw, surpassing the record previously held by Japan’s Kimiko Date, who was 44 when she lost in the first round at Melbourne Park in 2015.

To have any chance of facing Gauff again, she needs to do something she hasn't done in 2026: record a win. In the last two weeks, Williams played tournaments in New Zealand and in Hobart, losing in the first round at both.

After a 6-4, 6-3 win over Williams on Tuesday, Tatjana Maria said it was a tough one because “everyone loves Venus. I love her, too."

Gauff and Williams are in the same half of the draw as top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka, who won back-to-back Australian Open titles before losing last year's final to Madison Keys.

Sabalenka, who opened her season with a title in Brisbane last week, has a potential third-round meeting against 2021 U.S. Open winner Emma Raducanu.

Defending champion Keys, who lost her quarterfinal match at the Adelaide International to rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko in three sets on Thursday, was drawn into the same quarter as No. 6 Jessica Pegula, and No. 4 Amanda Anisimova.

No. 2-ranked Iga Świątek, seeking a career Grand Slam with her first title at Melbourne Park, is in the bottom quarter on that side of the draw and has a potential fourth-round match against four-time major winner Naomi Osaka.

Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic landed in the same half of the draw, setting up a potential semifinal between the defending champion and the 24-time major winner.

Djokovic, who has won 10 Australian titles but hasn't gone past the semifinals at Melbourne Park since 2023, played an exhibition against Frances Tiafoe on Rod Laver Arena hours after the draw was made. He withdrew last week from a warmup tournament in Adelaide to give himself more time to be ready for the Open.

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz is on the opposite side to Sinner and Djokovic, and has Tiafoe and local hope and sixth-seeded Alex De Minaur in his quarter of the draw.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Coco Gauff of the United States plays a forehand return during a practice session ahead of the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)