Pharmacies earn praise for ’Herculean’ efforts
TWO Bowen pharmacies are leading the race to vaccinate Whitsunday residents against Covid-19.
Livelife Pharmacy Bowen Healthcare and Livelife Pharmacy Bowen Plaza have received acknowledgment from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia for vaccinating more than a quarter of the Bowen community – delivering more than 2500 vaccinations to a population of more than 10,000 since early June.
The Pharmacy Guild’s acting Queensland branch presi
dent Chris Owen said the Bowen teams deserved to be congratulated for their “herculean” efforts.
Mr Owen said it was “hard to imagine anywhere else where two community pharmacies have delivered this large of a proportion of vaccines to their community”.
More than 700 Queensland community pharmacies are now administering free Covid-19 vaccinations in metropolitan, regional and remote areas, to help provide equitable access.
The Bowen teams’ efforts are especially admirable given government data recently revealed the Whitsunday region as one of the least vaccinated in the state, which the region’s healthcare providers said was partly due to social media “conspiracy theories”.
Pharmacist Rebecca Edgerton said the Bowen teams had been able to overcome people’s initial “apprehension” by ensuring staff were fully trained in answering questions and helping with bookings.
Ms Edgerton said it was common for patients to be unsure at the start of the process, but then relieved after their first dose, and much more confident about the future after both doses.
“They are very thankful for us putting up our hands to participate, and they say it was an easy process because everything was explained before the vaccination,” she said.
“They trust us. They trust our advice and they know it wouldn’t happen if it was not suitable.”
Mr Owen said community pharmacies continued to receive doses of Astrazeneca and would begin offering the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines later in September.
Visit findapharmacy.com .au/qldpharmacy to see a list of all Queensland community pharmacies that are administering Covid-19 vaccinations.