COVID-19: Bathurst pharmacy frustrated with wait for vaccine clearance

In February, over 3900 community pharmacies nationwide were deemed suitable to administer COVID-19 vaccinations according to The Pharmacy Guild of Australia, including 371 in rural and regional NSW.

The initiative sparked from federal government expressions of interest in January as they were in the process of preparing their COVID vaccination rollout strategy.

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Moodie's Pharmacy pharmacist and proprietor Paul Jones said the pharmacy was deemed suitable as part of the aforementioned figures, but as of late June, is yet to hear anything further.

"We've not heard anything since March," Mr Jones said.

"There's around 1800 pharmacies in NSW, and only 23 have been approved to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations, which is a bit of a joke."

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Mr Jones said he doesn't understand the delay in clearance given many pharmacies, including Moodie's, have been equipped to administer influenza [flu] vaccinations since 2016.

"We have the cold chain storage to store vaccines, consult rooms for patients, and appropriate training to administer them," he said.

"We've got all the right screening processes in place, so we don't understand why we're not allowed yet."

As of June 29, 5.8 per cent of Australians have been fully vaccinated, ranked last among 37 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] countries, including the United States [47 per cent], United Kingdom [49.1 per cent] and Canada [29.6 per cent].

While acknowledging supply issues as a key factor in Australia's slow rollout, Mr Jones highlighted the expertise of pharmacies ordering cold chain medication daily.

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"Our cold chain storage is monitored remotely to stay within the right temperature range and in my opinion, there is a greater need to expand vaccination venues in regional areas," he said.

Two vaccination brands are currently offered nationwide: Pfizer [recommended for under 60s] and AstraZeneca [recommended for over 60s]: with everyone over 40 currently eligible.

On Monday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced under-40s could receive AstraZeneca with GP clearance, which was met with mixed responses from state governments and medical experts.

On Thursday, state health minister Brad Hazzard announced 22 pharmacies across rural and regional NSW without adequate access to a GP or a NSW Health centre would start administering AstraZeneca as part of a pilot program from July 19.

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