Independent pharmacists on Long Island and in the region have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine but can’t start giving them out to the public.

That’s because they are required to wait for a federal advisory panel to weigh in, and it isn’t scheduled to meet for another two weeks.

"We have a lot of stock of the vaccine but we’re not able to launch it," said Danny Deng, chair of the Pharmacists Society of the State of New York. He owns a pharmacy in Manhattan. "We’ve asked the state Department of Health to step in and provide us with some guidance," he said.

More than a week after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the shots for limited categories of people, confusion continues on who to vaccinate and whether they need a prescription to get a vaccination.

The two lar

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