republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2021/hb-2079.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Pharmacists; initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of drugs and devices."
description: "Pharmacists; initiation of treatment; certain drugs and devices. Expands provisions governing the initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of drugs and devices by pharmacists to allow the initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of drugs, devices, and controlled paraphernalia to persons 18 years of age or older, in accordance with protocols developed by the Board of Pharmacy in collaboration with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health, and of (i) vaccines included on the Immunization Schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; (ii) tuberculin purified protein derivative for tuberculosis testing; (iii) controlled substances for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus, including controlled substances prescribed for pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis pursuant to guidelines and recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and (iv) drugs, devices, controlled paraphernalia, and other supplies and equipment available over-the-counter, covered by the patient's health carrier when the patient's out-of-pocket cost is lower than the out-of-pocket cost to purchase an over-the-counter equivalent of the same drug, device, controlled paraphernalia, or other supplies or equipment. The bill requires any pharmacist who administers a vaccination pursuant to clause (i) to report such administration to the Virginia Immunization Information System. The bill also (a) requires the Board of Pharmacy, in collaboration with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health, to establish protocols for the initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of drugs, devices, and controlled paraphernalia by pharmacists in accordance with the provisions of the bill by November 1, 2021; (b) requires the Board of Pharmacy, in collaboration with the Board of Medicine, to adopt regulations within 280 days of the bill's enactment to implement the provisions of the bill; and (c) requires the Board of Pharmacy to continue the work group composed of equal number of representatives of the Boards of Pharmacy and Medicine and other stakeholders to provide recommendations regarding the developing of protocols for the initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of certain drugs and devices by pharmacists to persons 18 years of age or older."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 2079"
citation: "Virginia HB 2079 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Sam Rasoul"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 30
vote_count: 7
first_action: "2021-01-12"
last_action: "2021-03-18"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e95d5fec-e57e-45ef-9fcc-1d8d86f2f00f"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB2079"
source_hash: "54f4aa761f028ec698858e619fd3f907f970db97ce41397907d1fb114866226a"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 2079 (2021) — Pharmacists; initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of drugs and devices.

Pharmacists; initiation of treatment; certain drugs and devices. Expands provisions governing the initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of drugs and devices by pharmacists to allow the initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of drugs, devices, and controlled paraphernalia to persons 18 years of age or older, in accordance with protocols developed by the Board of Pharmacy in collaboration with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health, and of (i) vaccines included on the Immunization Schedule published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; (ii) tuberculin purified protein derivative for tuberculosis testing; (iii) controlled substances for the prevention of human immunodeficiency virus, including controlled substances prescribed for pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis pursuant to guidelines and recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and (iv) drugs, devices, controlled paraphernalia, and other supplies and equipment available over-the-counter, covered by the patient's health carrier when the patient's out-of-pocket cost is lower than the out-of-pocket cost to purchase an over-the-counter equivalent of the same drug, device, controlled paraphernalia, or other supplies or equipment. The bill requires any pharmacist who administers a vaccination pursuant to clause (i) to report such administration to the Virginia Immunization Information System. The bill also (a) requires the Board of Pharmacy, in collaboration with the Board of Medicine and the Department of Health, to establish protocols for the initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of drugs, devices, and controlled paraphernalia by pharmacists in accordance with the provisions of the bill by November 1, 2021; (b) requires the Board of Pharmacy, in collaboration with the Board of Medicine, to adopt regulations within 280 days of the bill's enactment to implement the provisions of the bill; and (c) requires the Board of Pharmacy to continue the work group composed of equal number of representatives of the Boards of Pharmacy and Medicine and other stakeholders to provide recommendations regarding the developing of protocols for the initiation of treatment with and dispensing and administering of certain drugs and devices by pharmacists to persons 18 years of age or older.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CHAP0214** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0214)
2. **HB2079ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2079ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21102543D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2079)
4. **Printed as engrossed 21102543D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB2079E)

## Votes

- Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with amendment(s) (19-Y 0-N) — **19–0** (pass) · lower
- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 0-N) — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N) — **32–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (95-Y 2-N) — **94–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Sam Rasoul — primary (person)
- Dan I. Helmer — cosponsor (person)
- Hala S. Ayala — cosponsor (person)
- Ibraheem S. Samirah — cosponsor (person)
- Kaye Kory — cosponsor (person)
- Lee J. Carter — cosponsor (person)
- Marcus B. Simon — cosponsor (person)
- Mark D. Sickles — cosponsor (person)
- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)
- Mark L. Cole — cosponsor (person)
- Patrick A. Hope — cosponsor (person)
- Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-12** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21102543D `introduction`
- **2021-01-12** Referred to Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-13** Impact statement from DPB (HB2079)
- **2021-01-15** Assigned HWI sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-21** House subcommittee amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-01-21** Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendments (6-Y 0-N)
- **2021-01-26** Reported from Health, Welfare and Institutions with amendment(s) (19-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-28** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-29** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-01-29** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2021-01-29** Engrossed by House as amended HB2079E
- **2021-01-29** Printed as engrossed 21102543D-E
- **2021-02-01** Impact statement from DPB (HB2079E)
- **2021-02-01** Read third time and passed House (95-Y 2-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-02-01** VOTE: Passage (95-Y 2-N)
- **2021-02-02** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-02-02** Referred to Committee on Education and Health `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Education and Health (15-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-10** Assigned Education sub: Health Professions `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-18** Reported from Education and Health (15-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-19** Constitutional reading dispensed (32-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-22** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-22** Passed Senate (39-Y 0-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-25** Enrolled
- **2021-02-25** Impact statement from DPB (HB2079ER)
- **2021-02-25** Signed by President
- **2021-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-03-01** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on March 1, 2021
- **2021-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-18** Approved by Governor-Chapter 214 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e95d5fec-e57e-45ef-9fcc-1d8d86f2f00f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).