Insight: Winter 2021

Winter 2021 | 14 Vaccine Update Ed Vess, R.Ph., Director of Pharmacy Professional Affairs Over the past several months, a team from the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists (ASCP) has done a stellar job with their weekly updates on Operation Warp Speed . As they shared new information gathered most recently, they identified changes from previous announcements as well. A massive project to be implemented in a very short time frame had to be adaptive to changes. No doubt Phase I has not gone as some planned but to have come so far so quickly is a testament to what can be done in our healthcare system. The ASCP calls have been primarily focused on how pharmacy would be involved in vaccinating individuals in long-term care facilities and the staff who care for them. As we complete second doses for Phase I recipients and process first doses for Phase II recipients, we’re challenged with new strains and data suggesting over half of the spread is asymptomatic. This will likely accelerate approaches and efforts to vaccine distribution and administration. An agile approach to an evolving problem has pharmacy at the center of the solution. Are you prepared? An Urgent Message from CPESN USA Directors and Luminaries Please do the following (now) : y Ready yourself as much as you are able regardless of who you are partnered with (state, CPESN USA, another federal partner) and join webinars, listservs, and community meetings. y Be accommodating, collaborative, and agile. This is viewed as a crisis by authorities and care teammembers alike: − If there is new technology, adopt it. − If there is new paperwork, adopt it. − If there are new practice settings, go there. − If there is new contracting or partnering, make them. y Support and partner with your colleagues: − CPESN USA and/or its local networks and pharmacies may or may not get “called up” tomorrow or next week. But be assured the call is coming. − CPESN USA or its local networks may or may not be able to allocate the vaccine to you right now. You may get it from somewhere else or multiple somewhere(s). Be assured allocation is eventually coming and we will sooner or later be allocating to those of you who have signed up. Get it from where you can. − Coordinate and collaborate with your fellow pharmacists, whatever stripes or flags they carry – chain, long-term care, primary care, or the competing independent across the street – at the end of the day, they are responding to a pandemic just like you. − Coordinate and collaborate with your fellow care team members and community leaders. At the end of the day, they are responding to a pandemic just like you. The situation with this pandemic is everchanging, but the guidance above is solid and applicable. Answering the Call Burke’s Main Street Pharmacy in Hilton Head Island, SC, is an example of answering the call to COVID response no matter where it comes f rom. The Department of Public Health reached out to them for assistance, and now they’re administering nearly 100 Moderna vaccines a day and expanding their customer base. COVID Vaccine Update Immunization billing, administration, documentation, and reporting may be new to many, which has presented an educational opportunity. For information on these processes, visit our Qpath blog . Click to Watch Video