Time to get vax accreditation: Sclavos

PHARMACISTS are being urged to become accredited immunisers to ensure the profession can support the rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Speaking to Pharmacy Daily following a webinar featuring University of Oxford Professor of Vaccinology, Sarah Gilbert, hosted by the Australasian College of Pharmacy (ACP) and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia Queensland Branch last night, former ACP and Guild National President, Kos Sclavos, said pharmacists needed to be prepared to both administer COVID-19 vaccines and educate the public about them.

“The aim of the Guild and the College in organising the event was to motivate more pharmacists to become vaccinators,” he said.

“We want more pharmacists to be advocates for disseminating the facts about COVID-19 vaccines.

“We’ve seen in a recent national survey...30% of Australians said they wouldn’t take the vaccine even if offered.”

With the Queensland State Government already confirming pharmacist immunisers will be empowered to administer COVID-19 vaccines, Sclavos said other Governments across Australia and New Zealand have already indicated pharmacists will play a key role.

Sclavos added “if every GP, every GP nurse, every vaccinating pharmacist had no other task but to vaccinate the population of Australia and New Zealand, that would take four months”.

“I’m asking pharmacists to become involved in going through the accreditation and being a vaccinator.”

Guild Queensland Branch President, Trent Twomey, said pharmacists were well-placed to support a COVID-19 vaccine rollout campaign, with 97% of Queenslanders living within 2.5km of a pharmacy.

“Queensland pharmacist vaccinators are already leading the nation in immunisation provision, being able to provide the community with vaccinations against a range of bacterial and viral diseases, which is an integral part of communicable disease world-wide.”