Some pharmacies in Whitehorse are facing challenges in registering their pharmacists to administer flu vaccines, leading to the inability of some pharmacies to provide the vaccines this year. Medicine Chest Pharmacy, co-owned by Jeff Spiers, has opted not to offer the vaccine due to registration issues.
Greg Oldridge, president of the Yukon Pharmacists Association, mentioned receiving complaints from various Whitehorse pharmacies regarding difficulties in obtaining their vaccine endorsements, a necessary certification in the Yukon for administering flu vaccines. The training required for this endorsement typically takes around two to three weeks to complete.
Oldridge noted contrasting experiences among different pharmacy chains. While one larger chain successfully registered multiple pharmacists for the vaccine program, other chains, including Medicine Chest, have struggled with certification for their staff.
Regarding Medicine Chest’s situation, there has been ongoing communication with the Yukon government’s Health and Social Services department for the past five months, with delays in registering a specific individual despite continuous efforts to move the process forward.
When approached for a response to the delays, the Health and Social Services department spokesperson cited the government’s caretaker period, limiting public communications until a new government is sworn in. The Department of Community Services, responsible for providing the vaccine endorsement, stated they are not aware of any backlog and aim to process endorsements within 10 days if all requirements are met.
Apart from the registration delays, pharmacies have also raised concerns about the Panorama software used to track patient immunization records. David Winger, a manager and pharmacist at Shoppers Drug Mart in Whitehorse, highlighted that the system can be slow, causing flu shot appointments to take longer than anticipated compared to more efficient systems like ImmsBC in British Columbia.
