Pharmacies deal with appointment shuffling as COVID vaccines roll out

Saskatchewan’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout is going full steam ahead, and pharmacies are a major part of that.

But what happens when appointments at pharmacies are cancelled?

Dawn Martin, the CEO of the Pharmacy Association of Saskatchewan, said some people are getting on the waitlist at several different pharmacies, then taking the first shot they can get. That could even be at a government-run drive-through or walk-in clinic.

She said that’s a completely fine thing to do, but it does lead to some logistical issues for the pharmacies to work through.

“There are very clear standards about how pharmacies then will try to find folks to use those doses (on),” Martin said Monday.

“That could include things like if somebody has an appointment booked that next day or in the next couple of days, (the pharmacies) might bring them in earlier. Or they might bump down a bit in age categories … or find people who are part of those priority groups that have already been established … and make sure that we’re staying very consistent with what has been established within the larger system.”

So far, pharmacies haven’t had much trouble finding people to fill those slots, but Martin believes it could be an issue as the rollout continues.

“As we go along, dependent on what happens with age categories and uptake in an area, there could be leftover doses at the end of the day,” she continued.

If a particular pharmacy is having trouble finding people to get the shot, vaccine doses might even be shuffled around.

“It’s a case of ‘OK, so what do we do with any extra doses that may be available and how do we make sure that they go wherever they’re needed?’ ” Martin said.

To make things easier on the people who have to manage it, Martin asked anyone who has booked multiple appointments to make sure they cancel extra appointments once they have got a shot somewhere else.

“We understand how quickly people want to get their shot, so we get that this is probably going to be happening,” she said. “But if you could please be sure to cancel any appointments that you’re not going to use, that’s really critical for managing the vaccine supply and really helpful to make sure that we’re not wasting any of these really important doses.

“Somebody else will use that dose, but we (have) to know when that happens.”

According to the Saskatchewan government, pharmacies are to receive 31,590 of the 63,180 doses of the Pfizer vaccine that are to arrive in the province this week.

On Monday, the age of eligibility to get a COVID vaccination in Saskatchewan dropped to 29 years of age and older. It’s to fall to 26 and over on Wednesday, to 23 and over on Friday, to 20 and older on Sunday, to 16 and up on May 18, and to 12 and over on May 20.