AUSTRALIA'S community pharmacy network should be at the forefront of efforts to administer any successful COVID-19 vaccines to the public, Pharmacy Guild of Australia Executive Director, Suzanne Greenwood, believes.
Writing in the Guild's fortnightly newsletter, Forefront, Greenwood said the sector's success in boosting influenza vaccine uptake this year showed the potential role pharmacies could play in administering a COVID-19 vaccine.
"There are 5,762 community pharmacies in Australia and they are easily accessible for everyone," she said.
"It, therefore, makes sense that when a COVID-19 vaccine is available, community pharmacies should be at the forefront of ensuring it gets out to the whole population.
"The infrastructure is there, the trained staff are there, and the trust patients and consumers have in their pharmacists and their staff will help boost uptake."
Greenwood's push for pharmacies to be involved in the administration of COVID-19 vaccines follows comments made by South Australian Health Minister, Stephen Wade, who said it was "too early to tell" whether pharmacies would be suitably equipped to store and distribute some of the vaccines currently being developed (PD 17 Nov).
"It may well be that some vaccines have storage and distribution requirements that are within the scope of the pharmacy network and that brand might be deployed for a certain cohort through pharmacists," he said.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 19 Nov 20
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