Community pharmacies are an integral piece of the health care system helping to vaccinate millions in Missouri. Pharmacists are vaccination experts, accessible, well trusted, and know their community’s needs. The Governor’s Office and Missouri officials recognized all of these characteristics. In March, Missouri was the second state to prioritize a consistent supply of vaccines to local pharmacies. Since then, in March alone, independent pharmacies have been able to provide more than 80,000 doses of COVID vaccines to their communities. This is an example of how pharmacists have been an important part of the process to vaccinate the citizens of Missouri.
Pharmacists are arguably the most accessible health care professionals in their communities. By design, anyone can walk into a pharmacy at any time and ask for a recommendation. Patients or community members do not need an appointment to see someone who has a doctorate level degree in pharmacy. Pharmacies are in every neighborhood and every small town. Patients do not need to commute far to find a pharmacist. Finally, most independent pharmacies deliver to their patients for free, increasing access to homebound families. Throughout the pandemic, pharmacies remained open and accessible to their community. This accessibility makes pharmacists a unique health care provider during a pandemic.
Year after year, surveys show that community pharmacists are one of the top two most-trusted health care professionals in their community. From the beginning of the pandemic, the Governor’s Office knew that every part of the state would have unique needs and require different vaccine delivery methods. Through relationships, pharmacies have been assisting in health department vaccination clinics and National Guard vaccination clinics. Through relationships, pharmacies have discovered unique vaccine delivery methods and have reached hard-to-reach or underserved populations. In March, by simply prioritizing vaccine to community pharmacies, we have seen homebound patients, the homeless, vaccine deserts, adult daycares, senior centers, and communities that benefit from translators getting vaccinated. No one needed to tell pharmacies to prioritize these patients; the state gave them vaccine, and pharmacies got creative. This is because local pharmacies know and meet the needs of the communities around them. They are on the school board or volunteer at many community assistance centers and programs. They speak or at least have access to foreign language interpreters to assist with Russian, Spanish, and other non-English speaking patients. As pharmacists, we KNOW our community and when given vaccine, we will meet their needs.
Finally, community pharmacies have been unknowingly prepping for a pandemic for years. Year after year, pharmacies vaccinate their communities in preparation for the flu season. They have prepared workflows and scheduling platforms because of this need and were prepared for the COVID vaccine. A large part of a pharmacist’s education is identifying and immunizing their patients to increase the overall well-being of the public. They go through training in school and continued education every year to keep up their credentials. Due to the emergency rules and HHS guidelines, pharmacists have been able to practice at the top of our professional ability. Pharmacists as health care professionals are vaccination experts.
On behalf of patients, communities, and the Missouri Pharmacy Association, I want to thank the governor, his office, the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the Missouri Department of Bureau of Immunizations, and all the other state agencies and their employees who recognized pharmacies as a crucial partner in vaccinating Missourians. It is too early to fully celebrate the success of all the state employees and health care professionals that have laid the foundation for this heavy responsibility because our job is still not done. Since receiving a regular shipment of vaccine, many pharmacists have not had a day off; when they are not in the pharmacy, they are holding clinics or entering data. Therefore, it is appropriate to celebrate the successes and the hard work of individuals thus far. Thank you to all of the pharmacists and other health care professionals that are making personal sacrifices. And on behalf of the pharmacy profession, thank you for allowing us to serve the state of Missouri. Community pharmacies are an integral piece of the vaccinating puzzle; we look forward to completing a mission of vaccinating millions.
Dr. Michaela Newell, PharmD, is the director of Professional Affairs at the Missouri Pharmacy Association. She was also named to The Missouri Times’ 30 Under 30 list in 2020.
