POSSESSION OF CERTAIN VACCINES OR TUBERCULIN

(a) A home and community support services agency or its employees who are registered nurses or licensed vocational nurses may purchase, store, or transport for the purpose of administering to the agency's employees, home health or hospice patients, or patient family members under physician's standing orders the following dangerous drugs: (1) hepatitis B vaccine; (2) influenza vaccine; (3) tuberculin purified protein derivative for tuberculosis testing; (4) pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine; and (5) any other vaccine approved, authorized for emergency use, or otherwise permitted for use by the United States Food and Drug Administration to treat or mitigate the spread of a communicable disease, as defined by Section 81.003. (b) A home and community support services agency that purchases, stores, or transports a vaccine or tuberculin under this section shall ensure that any standing order for the vaccine or tuberculin: (1) is signed and dated by the physician; (2) identifies the vaccine or tuberculin covered by the order; (3) indicates that the recipient of the vaccine or tuberculin has been assessed as an appropriate candidate to receive the vaccine or tuberculin and has been assessed for the absence of any contraindication; (4) indicates that appropriate procedures are established for responding to any negative reaction to the vaccine or tuberculin; and (5) orders that a specific medication or category of medication be administered if the recipient has a negative reaction to the vaccine or tuberculin.