Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the East Midlands are continuing to play a key role in the successful rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. Life-saving coronavirus vaccines are now being delivered by community pharmacists from Village Hotel – Nottingham, Northampton & District Indoor Bowling Association, Turreff Hall, Donnington and Memon Centre in Leicester.

The vital contribution of pharmacy professionals in the COVID19 pandemic is being highlighted on Wednesday 7 April with #pharmacy24 an international Twitter event. Pharmacists are involved at every stage of the vaccination programme overseeing how the vaccine is prepared and they have put in place the measures to ensure the vaccine gets where it is needed in pristine condition.

Pharmacists have been using faith sites to carry out vaccinations such as East Goscote St Hilda Church in Leicester, St John’s Methodist Church in Allestree, Derby and the Ikhlas Community Centre in the diverse Derby suburb of Normanton. These are places which are not only familiar and comfortable to people but also have proved pivotal in providing social distancing and infection prevention control measures that are found in a clinical environment as well.

Hotels across the East Midlands have been used by Pharmacy-led teams for vaccinations including the Casa Hotel in Chesterfield and Village Hotels in Nottingham.

Asda became the first supermarket to support the NHS vaccination programme with the opening of a vaccination centre in the Midlands at the end of January. Boots, Superdrug and several independent stores were also among the first of hundreds of community pharmacies to offer vaccinations protecting against COVID-19.

Throughout the pandemic, pharmacists in hospitals have also been making sure that critical medicines, medical oxygen and new COVID treatments have continued to be available as and when needed. And they have provided essential clinical services directly to patients, working side-by-side with doctors and nurses delivering first-rate care.

Alison Tonge, the Regional Director responsible for the rollout of the vaccination programme at NHS England and NHS Improvement in the Midlands, said:

“Pharmacy teams have been working incredibly hard throughout the pandemic and, as we accelerate the vaccination programme, they are playing a vital role in delivering the life-saving jabs to those in their communities. Thirty-seven community pharmacies have been actively working on the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the East Midlands, so their skills and experience has never been more valuable. There are also hundreds of pharmacy professionals working on the programme across the East Midlands in different organisations and locations.

“Pharmacists know their patients and their communities well and they are playing a key role in taking the vaccine out into local areas where people can walk to, find it easier to visit or feel most comfortable.

“The vaccines are both safe and effective, so if anybody who is eligible but hasn’t been vaccinated yet, I’d urge them to go online or call 119 and get themselves booked in.”