Pharmacy Daily | WA urged to activate all pharmacies

MOVES to improve access to COVID-19 vaccines through 49 community pharmacies in regional and rural Western Australia is a first step, but the State Government needs to activate the full pharmacy workforce, Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) WA Branch President, Dr Fei Sim, believes.

While welcoming the decision to activate pharmacies, Sim said she was concerned that "pharmacist involvement [in the campaign] is still limited".

"This is fantastic for rural residents in towns including Donnybrook, Narogin and Wickham, but with 50% of people aged over 50 years still to get their first dose, it is time to activate all approved community pharmacies in WA now," she said.

"While this is a great start, a further 463 pharmacies have been approved by the Government, but are yet to start vaccinating.

"As Australia's most accessible healthcare workforce, bringing all community pharmacists on-board will accelerate the rollout, especially in Australia's largest and most population-dispersed state.

"While WA's COVID-19 experience is the envy of the world, vaccination is the only path out of the pandemic.

"We must do everything we can to get as many Western Australians vaccinated against this terrible disease as soon as possible.

"This means activating all of our full vaccinator workforce -- including pharmacists -- as soon as possible."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia welcomed plans to activate pharmacies in NSW to administer the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, announced by Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, this morning, noting the organisation was working with the Premier's office and the Chief Health Officer, Dr Kerry Chant.

"Anything that pharmacies can do to help in the Sydney emergency is a very positive step and one which we will work closely with authorities to achieve," the spokesperson said.

Full details of the updated pharmacy activation program in NSW have yet to be confirmed, with Berejiklian revealing the State Government was working on a deal that would see pharmacists administer the vaccine to "anybody over 40".