by Devon Myers, Pharmacist/Owner of Kakabeka and Rosslyn Pharmacies
Have you ever signed into your email account only to realize that you have 20 unopened messages from Cineplex? How about Lowe’s and HomeDepot? Sometimes you get slammed with multiple emails in one week! We do NOT want to join that list! However, we are launching a new initiative at our pharmacies. To help our patients stay up-to-date within the dynamic world of pharmacy we are providing an email newsletter for those who are interested. Our plan is to provide 1 newsletter on a monthly basis (or bimonthly, we don’t want to bother anyone too much). The messages will be short and concise. For example, they could update patients on the status of flu shots. Or, perhaps the availability of Covid-19 vaccines when they come around. It will also help us relay information on issues such as back orders or shipment delays. Unfortunately, those still happen from time-to-time.
If this is a service that you’re interested in, let us know! There are a few ways you can reach the pharmacy team. If you’ve been in the pharmacies lately you may have already been asked by a team member if you’d like to enroll in the program. You can also reach out to us on Facebook or you can give us a call directly. Additionally, you can sign up by sending an email to the following: pharmacyupdates2021@gmail.com.
Now I know a lot of you have read thus far in anticipation that I will have an update on the status of the Covid-19 vaccine. But, there hasn’t been a lot of additional information provided to us since our last article was written in January. Sorry everyone ! However, there is some good news. Administration appears to be gaining traction in certain populations. Some lucky individuals have even finished their course of immunization. Health care workers stationed in hospitals, long-term care homes and retirement homes have begun receiving their vaccines in Ontario. This coincides with the Phase 1 rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in our province. I am not sure of the status, but individuals in remote indigenous communities are also included in Phase 1.
In Phase 2, which is anticipated to start in March, the next group of individuals will hopefully begin to receive vaccinations. Recipients are expected to include healthcare workers working outside of hospital settings as well as residents of long-term care homes and retirements homes. Phase 2 will include a lot more people. In fact, millions more. Of course, this will all depend on availability. Availability being a variable that we’ve all come to except as being quite elusive. Up next, phase 3.
Phase 3 will represent a period in which anyone who wants to be immunized can receive vaccination. At the time of writing this article Phase 3 is projected to start in August. Ontario is anticipating widespread distribution of the vaccine by then. However, I always approach these timelines with a grain of salt. Rick Hilliard, the Chair of the Vaccine Distribution Task Force responsible for distribution of the Covid-19 vaccine, could not state with certainty that Ontario would have secured enough vaccines for the entire population by the rollout date. Things change, everyone is staying optimistic and hopefully we’re ready to go in August!
