National Pharmacy Association statement on COVID vaccinations: let us help beat this deadly virus

The National Pharmacy Association is urging the government and NHS to permit more pharmacies to vaccinate people against COVID-19.

NPA chair, Andrew Lane, said:

“Pharmacies can play a significant role in the COVID vaccination programme, and we’re well equipped to get started immediately.

“We have been on the health service frontline throughout the pandemic and now we want to join this latest, decisive, battle against this deadly virus.

“The vast majority of pharmacies provide flu vaccinations, so there are thousands of potential local pharmacy sites for vaccinating against COVID, capable of protecting millions of people within weeks.

“We are bound to ask, what on earth is stopping the NHS from mobilising more pharmacies for this vital task?

“Pharmacists want to help, they are already trained for giving vaccines, and people are crying out for convenient local access to the vaccine.  It’s surely a no-brainer that pharmacies should be supported to take part in this urgent national effort.

“The process for signing-up to give vaccines needs to be as agile as the workforce and should allow pharmacy teams to come on board rapidly. Approval of the Oxford-Astra Zeneca vaccine, for which storage is easier, means that many more pharmacies are now capable of offering vaccinations.”