Saskatchewan pharmacists on overdrive

Saskatchewan pharmacists are moving into overdrive as they incorporate increased eligibility for COVID-19 booster shots into their daily schedules. As of December 20, residents 18 and over are eligible for booster shots, and the interval between second and third doses was reduced from five months to three months. This is a further reduction from the December 7 announcement of five months for those 50 and over. The uptake of booster and third doses at clinics and pharmacies to date is 38% of eligible residents or 159,649 administered, according to a government release. “We have lots of phone calls coming in as well as people walking in, hoping to get booster shots,” says Brian Gray of Lakeshore Pharmacy in Regina. “It’s really picked up since last week, when the announcement came out about the drop in age and eligibility.” As a small community pharmacy with only a couple of pharmacists on staff, Gray says he has been vaccinating an average of 12 people a day, along with clinics for up to 30-40 people a day. Read: Curiosity could be the key to long COVID “That’s part of the problem, too, is that you get into a bit of a burnout after a while, where you just don’t have the energy anymore to do large vaccination clinics on a regular basis,” Gray said. Since last spring when pharmacies began giving COVID-19 vaccinations, Gray has offered an online booking system for people to register. Once they are pre-screened, the pharmacy sends out booking invitations by email so people can book their own day and time. As of this week, he has 110 people on the waiting list, and 35 already invited to book appointments for spots in mid-January. Balance to maintain regular pharmacy services “We have to be able to manage our workflow so we can continue to not only provide vaccination services, but also regular pharmacy services on a regular basis. After a while, we just don’t have the ability and the energy to keep up with large volumes of vaccinations and continue to provide those services.” At this point, he is referring people to other vaccination providers, such as the Saskatchewan Health Authority. “As much as we’d like to, we can’t help everyone.” Read: No consultation: Ontario pharmacists stressed by sudden vax eligibility increase, sloppy government messaging “It’s pretty accurate to say that pharmacists are burned out and over-extended,” says Michael Fougere, chief executive officer of the Pharmacy Association of Saskatchewan (PAS). Although no statistics are available yet, Fougere estimates as many as 500,000 people are now eligible for boosters. “There’s lots of pivoting happening,” Fougere adds. “But I’m also hearing that pharmacists understand the need for protecting the public and ensuring that they will administer vaccines for boosters, now the policy has changed.” In Saskatchewan, Rapid Antigen Testing Kits are being distributed free of charge through malls, public libraries, and chambers of commerce. Each kit contains a bundle of five self-tests. Over eight million have been distributed, with an additional four million on the way. To date, Saskatchewan pharmacists have not been involved in point-of-care testing or giving out rapid testing kids, although Fougere says it would be helpful if pharmacists were involved in giving the kits out. “It’s all part of explaining to the person how to use the rapid test, that this is the purpose of it and how to do it, so a bit of education for them, too.”

Saskatchewan pharmacists on overdrive

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