Province will lift 30-day limit on prescriptions,
Distribution organization predicts a spike in demand for medications
Queen’s Park is lifting the 30day limit on prescriptions that was imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As of Monday, Ontarians will again be able to get 90 days worth of medications at one time from their local pharmacist.
Health Minister Christine Elliott, who imposed the 30-day cap in March amid concerns about hoarding and potential drug shortages, made the announcement Thursday night after the Star revealed the move.
CARP, an organization that advocates for older Canadians, has been warning that seniors on fixed incomes are concerned about being hit with multiple dispensing fees because they are having to buy their medications every month instead of every three months.
But Daniel Chiasson, chief executive officer for the Canadian Association for Pharmacy Distribution Management, warned there could be challenges.
“There’s going to be a spike in demand for the 30 days that follow,” said Chiasson, whose organization represents the distributors that buy medicines from pharmaceutical companies and sell them to pharmacies.
“We artificially created a 30day cycle to flatten the demand in March and that was successful,” he said.
“The supply chain is ready to go back to normal, but we’re not going to see normal demand patterns for a while.”
Chiasson noted that Ontario and Alberta are returning to 90day cycles at the same time. He said when the smaller Atlantic provinces did that in recent weeks, demand jumped 20 to 40 per cent.
“We’re in favour of a more orderly transition,” he added, recommending a phased approach to returning to three-month purchases.
Even before the pandemic hit Ontario, which has been in a state of emergency since March 17, there were supply-chain issues because some manufacturers of pharmaceutical ingredients in China and India could not keep up with the global demand.
The prescription change coincides with much of the province entering its second stage of reopening the economy on Friday.
As of that day, gatherings of up to 10 people will be allowed — up from five — throughout Ontario.
Other than in the Great Toronto Area, Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand-Norfolk and Windsor, most of province will be opened up.
That means restaurants and bars, which have been restricted to takeout meals and alcohol, will be allowed to do outdoor dine-in service on patios in Ottawa, Brant County, Muskoka, Haliburton, Kingston and scores of other communities across Ontario.
Hair salons, barber shops, beauty parlours and tattoo studios in those areas will also be permitted to reopen. They must take safety precautions and ensure physical distancing to protect staff and clients.
Premier Doug Ford is expected to announce as early as Monday when the GTA, which has seen most of the province’s COVID-19 deaths, will enter the next stage of opening.
Chief medical officer Dr. David Williams said the reopening comes as there’s a significant decline since last week in the number COVID-19 case that are serious enough to require hospitalization.
Williams noted that recovered cases are outpacing new cases by a margin of more than twoto-one in Thursday’s statistics.
“These are very good indicators of where we’re going,” he told reporters, noting there are 3,172 active cases in the province and most new infections are “less severe” than at the peak of the virus in April.
Discussions on whether to announce more areas of the province can expand business openings late next week will be held with local medical officers of health in a conference call Saturday, Williams added.
With the second stage beginning Friday, there are hopes the third stage, when all workplaces would be allowed to open, will soon follow.
While restrictions on public gatherings would be further relaxed, large public gatherings such as concerts and sporting events would continue to be restricted for the foreseeable future even in stage three.