COVID-19 vaccination effort – Canadian pharmacies getting involved?
Research from Abacus Data shows that 1 in 3 Canadians want to get the vaccine as soon as possible.
Getting pharmacies involved in vaccine rollout seems like a great idea – they already have expansive networks as well as experience administering vaccines.
With pharmacies located everywhere – even in the most remote locations in Canada – wouldn’t involving them help in getting a larger percentage of the population vaccinated in a shorter period of time?
Also, pharmacies in Canada have grown beyond just selling medicines. Many pharmacies currently offer services such as health consultations, travel immunizations, as well as administer flu shots.
This is why pharmacy chains across the country are eager to come on-board.
Toronto Star shares that pharmacy chains such as Shoppers Drug Mart Corp. and London Drugs Ltd. are in conversation with federal and provincial governments to discuss how they can support the vaccine rollout.
Similarly, the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) is also willing to lend a helping hand and are calling for a more coordinated strategy to be put into place.
While the government is tightly controlling the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, at this time, once approval on more vaccine candidates is received, in the coming months, partnering with pharmacies can help tackle the daunting task of distributing millions of vaccines across the country.
Additionally, pharmacies have an established network of partners who can help them in transporting, storing, and managing vaccine doses.
For instance, at Storesupport, we help pharmacies:
- Manage product inventory – we can ensure that the required stock of products is available and is replenished before it reaches a critically low level.
- Our team goes beyond just stock replacement and in-store product placement … we help provide pharmacies insights from the field to help understand the market sentiment and trends.
- We conduct audits and carry out quality assurance to identify and remove potential bottlenecks.
A mass vaccination program, in our opinion, requires engaging multiple stakeholders who can help get vaccines to the people who need them. This means that there should be multiple points of administration when there is a mass vaccine roll-out.
As about 81% of Canadians highly trust their pharmacists and regard the pharmacy as a safe place to get a vaccine, involving pharmacies seems like an appropriate next step.
We, at Storesupport, are ready to help. To learn more about our solutions for the healthcare sector, connect with us by calling 1-877-421-5081 or visiting www.storesupport.ca.
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