Journal of Pharmacy Management - Jan 2022

Journal of Pharmacy Management • Volume 38 • Issue 1 • January 2022 45 Many patients who had delayed their vaccinations suddenly ‘had to have them’ if only to allow domestic and international travel. Following the JCVI announcement that Moderna and Pfizer were the vaccines of choice for booster doses, planning and staffing for the booster campaign began in earnest. Using the Moderna vaccine in clinics led to a much more straightforward clinic, 20 doses per vial and no reconstitution eased the pressure on Senior Staff meaning we could spend more time reassuring patients and hands on vaccinating. The difficulty arose at the end of a clinic when juggling doses and vials to minimise wastage: having to open another vial just for 2-3 patients with 17-18 wasted doses. Once again we were delighted to embrace Cohort 2 and 3 patients (elderly and frail) for their booster vaccinations. Throughout the booster process, the weather was much milder and by now the team at Kings Heath Vaccination Centre had really nailed down patient flow and processing. At the height of the booster campaign we comfortably vaccinated over a thousand patients a day. As we moved into October and the evidence from the ComFluCov study had filtered through we were able to offer many of our vulnerable patients Covid vaccination in one arm and Flu in the opposite arm. I found myself reassuring patients on the benefits of both immunisations this with the catch phrase of “I say.. you buy one, you get one free…” Despite the huge campaign to get patients to have their initial and second vaccinations throughout October and November 2021 whilst providing booster doses, I was constantly surprised and amazed by the numbers of 1st and 2nd doses. It was interesting to see the differences in speed of data transfer – once we gave patients their COVID 2nd or booster doses and logged it in the Pinnacle platform this appeared in patients’ clinical notes (SystmOne, EMIS etc) within 1-2 hrs. The upload from the clinical systems to the NHS app was taking up to 14 days much to the dissatisfaction of patients looking to travel. So as I reflect on a year involved with and running a COVID clinic, THE ONLY CONSTANT has and will continue to be change. Throughout the Pandemic, Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians and Pharmacy as a Profession have notably demonstrated their worth to society. I’ve no doubt this will continue as we move towards the endemic stage of COVID 19. Chris is a Senior Clinical pharmacist based in a GP practice in North Northampton working within a PCN of 45,000 patients.