Pharmacy Daily | WA pharmacists secure access to NIP

PHARMACISTS in Western Australia are set to gain access to National Immunisation Program (NIP) influenza stock to vaccinate patients aged 65 years and older.

WA Health's decision follows the success of the State's Pharmacy NIP trial, Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA Branch Director, Matthew Tweedie said.

"This is further evidence that West Australians trust their local pharmacy to provide a safe professional immunisation service," he said.

"The Health Department have long understood the important role community pharmacy plays in helping West Australians access critical front line health services.

"Mark McGowan's West Australian Government has committed, in their second term, to work with the Guild to expand the role pharmacy is trained to play both in immunisation and primary health care services more generally.

"We look forward to working with the Premier, Health Minister Roger Cook and the WA Health Department to further leverage the WA pharmacy network that currently services one million West Australians every week."

Meanwhile, Tweedie said the COVID-19 pandemic had highlighted the capacity of the community pharmacy workforce.

"When fear and uncertainty reigned last year community pharmacy remained open and in WA administered more than a quarter of a million vaccines in the months of Apr and May 2020 alone," he said.

"This included the delivery of lifesaving medications to over 17,000 Aged Care residents and over 15,000 home deliveries of life saving medicines to patients who could not or did not want to leave their homes."