The fall immunization campaign is always an extremely busy time of year for community pharmacies, and this year, the profession has certainly rolled up its sleeves.
In the first two weeks of the immunization campaign, pharmacy teams administered 925,000 immunizations — this is the largest number of immunizations the profession in B.C. has ever administered in such a short time.
It was wonderful to see Minister of Health Josie Osborne visiting a pharmacy in Victoria to officially kick off the immunization campaign, accompanied by MLA Susie Chant and Deputy Provincial Health Officer Dr. Martin Lavoie.
Association staff have also been sending out invitations to Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) to visit their community pharmacies this fall, and many MLAs have already made appointments to meet our members and to get immunized. Thank you to those members who are volunteering their time to connect with these provincial decision-makers.
The work we are doing and the recognition from our government can only continue to boost visibility for our profession and encourage the public to utilize pharmacy services for their health-care needs. Congratulations, and thank you to all of you for your hard work to protect British Columbians from vaccine-preventable illnesses.
I also felt deeply honoured to learn that the work pharmacists have done in the Minor Ailments and Contraception (MACS) program was selected as a finalist in the Premier’s Awards. The work pharmacists are doing in the MACS program is also being very highly received by British Columbians, and as you will see in this edition, the public has a big appetite to see our services continue to expand to include more within our scope of practice.
I firmly believe that our profession will continue to grow, and probably more quickly than we think. As a pharmacist who serves a rural population, I know what we are doing is making a difference. More patients learn about our expanded scope every day, and I see their appreciation for how we have stepped up to give them that much-needed care they would not be able to obtain elsewhere.
Thank you. And let’s all continue to make a difference in our patients’ lives.
Colleen Hogg
Chair, Board of Directors
BC Pharmacy Association