Colorado pharmacies have already begun doling out third-dose vaccinations for immunocompromised residents, officials said Monday.

Despite some scrambling by pharmacists, the process has thus far been relatively smooth, added a pharmacy official.

Late last week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention endorsed giving a third dose to people with compromised immune systems who received either Moderna or Pfizer inoculations. The Food and Drug Administration had approved the doses for that purpose earlier in the week, a move welcomed at a press conference by Gov. Jared Polis. Early Friday evening, the state Department of Public Health and Environment recommended pharmacists and vaccine providers here begin administering the booster shots.

Only certain people qualify for the third shots, including people undergoing cancer treatment; those who take medications to suppress their immune systems for a variety of reasons; and people with conditions that lead to immune deficiencies, such as “advanced or untreated” HIV patients. 

In order to receive the doses, a person only needs to attest to vaccine providers that they fall into one of those categories, various pharmacists and Jessica Bralish, spokeswoman for the state health department, said Monday. 

That may “be a bit tricky” because “some patients may want this without true immunocompromised status,” said Emily Zadvorny, the executive director of the Colorado Pharmacists Society. Though she said the process is “not perfect,” it’s still not a huge concern.

“Pharmacists generally know their patients and can determine this via medical history (in some settings they are connected via electronic medical records, too) or the immunosuppressant medicines they are also taking,” she said in an email Monday. “I think pharmacists are OK with this.”

Walgreens and Safeway both said their chains have begun administering the doses. In a statement, Walgreens wrote that same-day appointments on a walk-in basis are available in some stores and that qualifying patients should bring their vaccination record. The third-shot boosters need to be the same dose as the first two.

There is no booster available for people who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

“There is not enough data at this time to determine whether immunocompromised people who received the Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen COVID-19 vaccine also have an improved antibody response following an additional dose of the same vaccine,” Zadvorny said.

Safeway also accepts walk-ins or appointments, said spokeswoman Kristine Staaf, and Zadvorny said most pharmacies “are open for either appointments or patients can just walk in and get it.” 

The companies and Zadvorny said the approval of the boosters last week, and Colorado recommending providers being administering it, were not a surprise. 

The population eligible in Colorado is small, Zadvorny said, but pharmacists may be “pushed to the limits” in the fall. By that time, boosters may be approved for the broader population, and the annual push to vaccinate people against the flu will be underway. Still, the boosters haven’t “been big on the radar for concern, she said.

Bralish said Colorado has “enough vaccine supply … for providers to being providing Coloradans with a third dose.” Zadvorny said supply may be an issue in the future, if the boosters are expanded to a more people, “but that is not reality yet.”