ALLOWING pharmacists to administer vaccines for diseases including measles and mumps is a healthy move, according to Krysti-Lee Rigby.
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Ms Rigby is the pharmacist in charge at Moodies Pharmacy and the vice president of the NSW Branch of the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia.
“The NSW legislation has been changed to allow pharmacists to provide their MMR vaccines – measles, mumps, rubella – and the pertussis, or whooping cough, vaccine,” she said.
“We [pharmacists] can provide that to patients over the age of 16 in our pharmacies as of January 1.”
The change brings NSW in line with other states, Ms Rigby said.
“Queensland, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania already provide vaccination services for those over 16 for those particular diseases, so NSW is really catching up,” she said.
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The move is also timely considering the outbreaks of whooping cough in the past couple of years, especially in NSW, Ms Rigby said.
“By allowing pharmacists to provide these vaccines we’re bridging that gap for those people who aren’t going to their GP and it also helps to provide patients with choice.
“We’re not trying to prevent them from seeing their regular GP, but it’s a service that we can provide.
“It’s fast, it’s safe and it’s effective.”
“Herd immunity” protects those who can’t get vaccinated, Ms Rigby said.
“It’s important to make sure that as many people as possible are vaccinated because the ones that are most at risk sometimes are the people who may not be able to have a vaccine – like children who are too young to get vaccinated.
“So it’s up to us to provide that herd immunity.”
The NSW Government says the change to allow pharmacists to deliver MMR vaccines will make them more readily available, especially in rural and regional areas.
Pharmacists were already able to provide influenza vaccines – more than 350 of which were provided at Moodies Pharmacy in 2018 alone, according to Ms Rigby.
