Pharmacist authorized to give injections

From the Williams Lake (BC) Tribune:
Georgina Chipman is the first pharmacist in Williams Lake authorized to give vaccine injections.

“I’m the only one so far,” says Chipman , a part-time pharmacist at Shoppers Drug Mart, who took part in a program put on by the B.C. Pharmacy Association and the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

She says the course is brand-new, as it started in the summer for pharmacists to become authorized through the B.C. College of Pharmacists to give vaccine injections.

Chipman took the program this fall due to the H1N1 pandemic.

“They were trying to train more health professionals to be available to give injections, specifically for the flu shots,” she says, noting that she can give other vaccines as well. ...more

500 pharmacists training to give jabs for swine flu

From the Herald (Ireland):
Around 500 pharmacists have now signed up to a training programme which would enable them to administer the swine flu vaccine.

The Health Service Executive has not yet indicated whether pharmacists will be involved in the planned flu vaccination programme.

However, the Irish Pharmaceutical Union (IPU) said it believed that "it would be prudent to allow as wide a range of health professionals as possible to address the challenges that face us this winter."

A spokesperson said that the IPU would hope that pharmacists would be included in the plan for administration of the swine flu vaccine to the public in the coming months.

"In Portugal, 40pc of all seasonal flu vaccines are administered by pharmacists. In the US, pharmacists have been involved in vaccinations since the mid-1990s," she said. ...more

Pharmacists tapped for injections

From the Edmonton Journal:
Pharmacists and paramedics could be called on to help inject the H1N1 vaccine this fall alongside nurses and doctors as part of a provincial plan to protect as many Albertans as possible from the new flu strain.

"This is one potential," said John Tuckwell, spokesman for Alberta Health and Wellness. "The immunization is the best defence against the virus and so our goal is to get as many Albertans vaccinated as quickly as possible."

Pharmacists were given additional responsibilities in April 2007, allowing them to refill prescriptions, change drug therapies or administer injections without direct physician instruction as long as they take training courses and successfully apply for certification. About 300 pharmacists out of a total of just under 4,000 in Alberta are authorized to give injection drugs, the Alberta College of Pharmacists says. ...more