Community Practice Environment, From the Archives

Tips to Make Flu Season Easier on your Pharmacy

Pharmacist giving flu shot
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With many pharmacies managing both flu and COVID-19 vaccinations, Pharmacy Connection is sharing five tips to make flu season easier on your pharmacy:

Know the Requirements

To administer the flu vaccine to patients two years or older, pharmacists, pharmacy students and interns must:

Prepare your Pharmacy

  • Prepare your premises to accommodate an influx of patients getting immunizations while maintaining physical distancing.
  • Determine required areas for service delivery and plan space allocations.
  • Consider additional infection prevention and control measures needed, including increased cleaning and disinfecting protocols.

Prepare your Staff

  • Where possible, designate staff to specific tasks for the duration of their shift.
  • Consider which tasks can be performed by a pharmacy student, intern, technician or assistant under supervision.
  • Ensure staff members are trained on your pharmacy’s immunization protocols, injection-related policies, appropriate PPE use, hand hygiene, and infection prevention and control procedures.

Communicate with the Community

  • Use your communication channels to make it clear what vaccines you are administering at the pharmacy – COVID-19 vaccine, flu vaccine, or both.

Establish Workflow

Establish tasks and those responsible for each phase of the vaccination process, such as:

  • Gathering patient information and providing instructions before the patient arrives at the pharmacy
  • Screening the patient for COVID-19 and answering patient questions when the patient arrives at the pharmacy
  • Wearing the appropriate PPE and performing hand hygiene when delivering the immunization
  • Cleaning and disinfecting immunization area, and monitoring patient flow between and after immunizations
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