Canada Trying to Amp Up Vaccination Plan
Canadian Pharmacists stated that they will try to vaccinate three million people per week. However, they have had problems with the government. The government has been telling them how the vaccinations should be administered.
Pharmacists are set to start administering vaccinations to the general population in two months. However, Shopper’s Drug Mark, which is the largest pharmacy chain in the country, does not know how these vaccinations will be administered. Joelle Walker is the vice president of public affairs at the Canadian Pharmacists Association.
Joelle stated that she knows that pharmacists will play an important role in administering the Covid 19 vaccinations. However, she does not know when this is going to take place. There are 11,000 pharmacies in Canada that are set to administer the vaccination.
Joelle said that administering the Covid 19 vaccine is not like administering the flu vaccine. It takes a lot longer to roll out the plan. Joelle also said that many people would prefer to get vaccinated at a pharmacy. Ninety percent of Canadians live within a five kilometer drive of a pharmacy. Additionally, if a Canadian lives in a rural area, then a pharmacy may be the only healthcare option that one has.
Immunization Campaign Is Off to a Slow Start
The Canadian Immunization rollout plan has not been as smooth as everyone hoped that it would be. Only one percent of the population has been vaccinated for Covid. Half of the 605,000 shots that have shipped to Canada have been used.
The United States and United Kingdom have both vaccinated more people per capita than Canada has. The reason that these countries have been able to vaccinate more people per capita is because they have developed a plan for allowing pharmacists to administer the vaccines.
There have been 11,500 places identified in the UK that can administer shots. Many pharmacies in the United Kingdom have the ability to administer 1,000 shots per week. Two hundred pharmacies in the United States have started administering the shots. There are also some pharmacists that can administer shots in churches and schools.
Walgreens is one of the largest pharmacies in America. It has over 9,000 locations in the U.S. They are set to inoculate 35,000 people in nursing homes. CVS, which is one of Walgreen’s main competitors, has also been leading in the American vaccination effort.
Canadian Pharmacies Capable of Giving Three Million Shots Per Week
Jeff Leger, who is the president of Shoppers Drug Chart, stated that the vaccination plan has been improving. They have focused on immunizing people in the nursing homes, health care workers and the most vulnerable. He also said that he is confident that things will start to improve over the next few weeks.
