Pharmacy Daily | More Qld pharmacies join COVID fight

THE Queensland Government has enlisted another 82 of the state's community pharmacies to undertake COVID-19 vaccinations, with the additional rollout to commence later this month.

Pharmacy Guild of Australia Queensland Branch Acting President, Chris Owen, welcomed the expansion, adding that up to a further 186 community pharmacies already approved through the Federal Government's EOI process would also join the COVAX campaign beginning in Aug.

The additional pharmacies are in outer-metro, rural and regional areas of the state, where there are already 49 community pharmacies vaccinating against COVID-19.

"The inclusion of community pharmacies is vital for rural and remote communities who don't have access to doctor surgeries or vaccination hubs," he said.

However Owen said the urgency of the need to vaccinate meant it was vital that the pharmacy rollout be expanded further.

"Although by the end of this month 131 community pharmacies will be offering this choice to Queenslanders, more needs to be done," he said.

"There's no reason for the other 521 community pharmacies in Queensland that have already been assessed as suitable by the Commonwealth not to be included in the rollout immediately.

"Given the need to vaccinate as many Queenslanders as quickly as possible, and the decentralised nature of our state, it is imperative that these community pharmacies are brought online, not only in rural and remote areas of the state, but also within the urban centres."

Owen called on the Federal Government to immediately activate the pharmacy workforce for vaccinations, saying if this happens now, more Queenslanders will have access to COVID-19 jabs when more stock becomes available in Sep and Oct.

"We need to protect Queenslanders and stop these revolving lockdowns," he added.

The full list of pharmacies currently delivering COVID-19 vaccinations in Queensland is now at findapharmacy.com.au/qldpharmacy.