Some Sask. pharmacies prepared for vaccination pilot project

Pharmacies are gearing up to deliver Saskatchewan residents their COVID-19 vaccines.

The province has said 63 pharmacies in 14 communities will be a part of the vaccination pilot project to help get more doses into people’s arms.

One of those pharmacies is Lorne Drugs in Regina. Owner Chris Perentes said he and his staff have been busy preparing for their delivery of 120 Pfizer doses on Thursday.

“My other pharmacists and myself have been doing a little bit of training so we have a little more knowledge about the vaccines, the process of how they are received and how the data is transmitted to authorities to record the vaccinations that are done,” Perentes said. “So there’s a lot of work that’s been done for the last few weeks in that regard.”

Any other time they have has been used to get people booked in for their shots.

“We were quite busy last week when word got out that we were one of the pharmacies and booked up our first allotment of 120 doses pretty darn quick,” Perentes said. “Within two (or) two and a half hours, our phones were ringing off the hook like Telemiracle.”

He said the Pfizer vaccines will be shipped to them in ultra-low-temperature freezers, will be kept in a thawing state and will be put into a refrigerator. Perentes said once they are thawed, the doses are good for about five days.

Perentes said there was a bit of miscommunication when it came to when teachers in the province would be eligible to book their vaccines. Teachers will become eligible on Wednesday when the age drops to everyone 40 and older, but some had got through to pharmacies and booked ahead.

Perentes said those appointments were cancelled and filled with people who are eligible.

“I think there was some information about a possible change of allowing teachers at some point in the next week or so,” he said. “It was just a miscommunication and has since been rectified.”

He said he is really excited his pharmacy will be able to help do more to help people stay safe against COVID-19.

“We’ve been waiting quite a while to be able to start to take part in doing what we can to help get rid of this pandemic sooner and get as many people vaccinated as possible,” Perentes said. “It’s going to be a whole lot of work for us but it really is a great feeling to know we’re going to be a part of the solution.”

A list of the participating pharmacies can be seen here.