PAYING community pharmacies $16 to administer COVID-19 vaccines (COVAX) will not keep the lights on, one Sydney-based pharmacy assistant (PA) warns.
In a letter to Australian Labor Party leader, Anthony Albanese, and pharmacist-turned-MP, Emma McBride, 25-year-old PA, Eleanor Turnbull, noted that pharmacies were "doing the heavy lifting" to boost vaccination uptake, while making a loss.
"Our pharmacy was excited to finally offer the AstraZeneca vaccine and received our first batch (600 doses), last Thu," Turnbull said.
"We began within the hour, posting on community pages and contacting people directly.
"I was amazed and heartened at the turnout, especially from young people.
"We've vaccinated over 100 people in three and a half days.
"The issue is, we will struggle to afford to continue.
"The process of getting the patient to fill in the form, enter the details on the database and the vaccination itself takes roughly 10 minutes then we have to monitor the patient for 15 minutes.
"We have to have at least one extra staff member, and our longstanding customers don't receive the usual level of service they are used to so I'm worried we will lose business.
"With at least 15-20 minutes spent on each patient and potentially losing other regular business, $16 per dose potentially won't even cover the wages.
"We've worked extended hours and opened on Sunday (usually closed on Sunday) to meet demand, but this will have been at a loss and my boss won't even pay himself.
"We receive $26 when the patient returns for their second dose but that doesn't help us right now.
"We are essentially making a loss, yet working harder than we've ever worked.
"We are all so happy and committed to something as important as these vaccinations.
"I'm worried we can't continue, however, $16 for a 20-minute service won't keep the lights on.
"If the government is serious about vaccine accessibility then pharmacists have to at least break even and be able to pay themselves and their staff."
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