COVID-19 Vaccine
Rachel Balick
Pharmacists should get priority access to the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available, APhA and 12 other pharmacy groups told a National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) special committee on September 4, 2020. The NASEM committee is tasked with developing an overarching framework to assist domestic and global policymakers in planning for equitable allocation of vaccines against the virus. The draft framework places pharmacists behind physicians and other health care providers in line for the eventual vaccine.
Top tier
The draft framework identifies “clinicians” and “other workers in health care settings who meet the Phase 1a risk criteria.” The groups say pharmacists meet three of the four risk criteria and therefore should be bumped from Tier 1 to Tier 2. The three criteria are risk of acquiring infection, risk of transmitting infection to others, and risk of negative societal impact.
APhA CEO Scott J. Knoer, PharmD, MS, FASHP, also submitted testimony to the NASEM special committee. He asserted that pharmacists deserve to be allocated the vaccine in “Tier 1,” not “Tier 2.”
“Pharmacies and pharmacists in all practice settings are essential frontline health care providers and have been providing COVID-19 and related patient care since the coronavirus first appeared in the United States,” Knoer said in his testimony. “We are proud of the tremendous critical efforts that our members have undertaken to help our nation respond to the pandemic and maintain the continuity of care for our patients and communities.”
Risk for society
The comments said that all pharmacists in all pharmacy practice settings should be placed in Tier 1. Prolonging pharmacists’ and pharmacies’ unprotected exposure to COVID-19:
- Threatens medication access and availability and undermines patients’ continuous adherence to therapeutic regimens;
- Limits COVID-19 testing; interferes with access to immunizations that protect adolescents and adults from vaccine-preventable diseases, including the flu;
- Jeopardizes the provision of evidence-based information on medications for COVID-19 treatment and symptomatic support to other health care providers and patients;
- Inhibits the delivery of in-person and telehealth services, in collaboration with other providers, to patients with chronic conditions; and
- Exacerbates shortage risks that are otherwise eased by pharmacists’ compounding services.
“For many underserved Americans (including priority recipients and minority groups at higher risk), pharmacists are the only health professional they can readily access,” the comments read. Pharmacists also offer convenient, immediate care and serve as a bridge between patients and communities and other health care providers.
The comments warned that vaccination delays also threaten pharmacists’ ability to contribute to all-hands-on-deck efforts to fight COVID-19 and protect Americans’ health during the pandemic. “Pharmacists are also stepping up to tackle some of the most daunting challenges of this pandemic, including shortages of health care staff and burnout of health care professionals,” the groups said. Additionally, the comments cited the U.S. Health and Human Services Department’s (HHS) expansion of pharmacist authority to order and administer COVID-19 tests and childhood vaccines as acknowledgment that pharmacists play an important role in maintaining the country’s economic, educational, and health and safety efforts.
Additional recommendations
The comments also recommended that pharmacists be prominently included in state and federal plans for the allocation and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. The groups urged a “fully funded component for pharmacists to conduct education and outreach campaigns supporting recommended vaccinations [in order to] eliminate stigma, address vaccine hesitancy, and improve prevention and health outcomes for high priority and vulnerable patient populations.”
Along with APhA, the comments were signed by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, American College of Clinical Pharmacy, Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy, American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists, Hematology/Oncology Pharmacy Association, National Alliance of State Pharmacy Associations, National Association of Specialty Pharmacy, National Community Pharmacists Association, and National Pharmaceutical Association.
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