Which province saw pharmacies give far more COVID shots than any other?

Nova Scotia pharmacists gave the most COVID shots, according to new numbers from the Canadian Foundation for Pharmacy. The statistics cover from when vaccines were first available—which in most provinces was March 2021—to March 2022, which is the end of provincial governments’ fiscal years. The average Canadian pharmacy gave 2,000 shots over that period. Nova Scotia was far above average, with their pharmacies administering 4,700 on average. New Brunswick was also on the higher side, at 3,700; Alberta pharmacies gave 3,000; and Ontario ones, 2,400. Newfoundland had the lowest, with 900 shots per pharmacy, followed by Quebec, with 1,200, B.C., with 1,250, and Manitoba, with 1,400. Saskatchewan and PEI were close to the average, with 1,800 per pharmacy in both provinces. Read: B.C.’s auditor general says data gaps during COVID-19 vaccine rollout posed risks Nova Scotia pharmacists gave out at more than 1.3 million vaccines overall. Their success came from several factors. They decided early on that pharmacies would be primary vaccination sites, not mass immunization clinics, which some other provinces used. Nova Scotia was also the only province to have a centralized booking system for vaccination sites. It had also purchased the CanImmunize app, used for patients’ consent, reporting to Public Health, allocating supplies and billing for vaccine administration. The Pharmacy Association of Nova Scotia also worked with the government on onboarding pharmacies and ensuring the app worked for them. In New Brunswick, which had pharmacies give out more than 800,000 COVID vaccines, the government hired a pharmacists to plan the vaccination rollout and liaise with the New Brunswick Pharmacists’ Association. In addition, pharmacy technicians recieved immunizing authority at the same time so that pharmacists could give more shots. About 80% of all Canadian pharmacies gave COVID shots. In Nova Scotia, that number was higher, with nine out of 10 pharmacies administering COVID shots at some point. Overall, pharmacies administered 18 million COVID vaccinations—nearly a quarter of the 79 million given in total to Canadians. “It was an incredible feat for the profession, given the logistics involved (including cold chain management and supply allocations),” the foundation said on its website. Read: Company planning to make COVID-19 vaccine in Canada could go out of business

Which province saw pharmacies give far more COVID shots than any other?

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