But where could the vaccine be stored safely? The Ottawa Hospital had something special that most public health units didn\u2019t at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen the Pfizer vaccine was first approved in Canada and the first doses were arriving, Ontario Health looked to The Ottawa Hospital to store the vaccine because we were equipped with specialized freezers and were familiar with handling medical products stored in cold temperatures,\u201d said Alex Kuo, Director of Pharmacy at The Ottawa Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But storage was just the start of how pharmacy professionals supported the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Ottawa. Pharmacy technicians and assistants were also called on to help prepare the vaccine into individual doses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Preparing the Pfizer vaccine: a team effort<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
On a typical day, The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s pharmacy<\/a> prepares 1,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses, but it has prepared as many as 1,700 for The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s vaccination clinic and for eligible inpatients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are able to support the high capacity needed for a rapid rollout,\u201d explained Alex. \u201cWe have the capability to manage the workflow, and we have the sterile environment needed to get the preparation done safely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pharmacy team is a big reason why the vaccination clinic can handle such high daily demands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPharmacy technicians and assistants have been instrumental and helping to produce the vaccines for the clinic,\u201d said Alex. \u201cWe\u2019ve recognized that from day one, and without them, this obviously wouldn’t be possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The pharmacy team at The Ottawa Hospital prepares 1,000 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine daily for eligible people in Ottawa in addition to preparing about 2,000 other medications for patients each day.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to preparing the COVID-19 vaccine, pharmacists are constantly looking for therapies that can be used to support COVID-19 patients, and they quickly adapt as the availability of those therapies changes over time without impacting patient care.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When a lot of attention is paid to potential therapies, pharmacists help to clarify evidence and risks around medication use. This has been especially important in the evolving treatments for COVID-19. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Pharmacists have also worked together to develop conservation strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPharmacists proactively recommend optimal medication therapies,\u201d explained Alex. \u201cAnd when supply is challenged, they consider other safe and effective alternatives based on availability.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That discussion can extend regionally and provincially, where hospital pharmacists work together to make sure everyone has what they need to best care for patients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA lot of hospitals have used their regional networks to have these greater discussions, and to develop plans in the event that a medication is in high demand with limited supply,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n An example of that came in the summer of 2020 when a medication called propofol, which is used in the ICU as a sedative, was in short supply from the manufacturers. Pharmacy leads across the region and province started looking at whether they could safely use the same medication but in a higher concentration. The result was that by limiting the use of the higher concentration to the GTA, there was no impact to the propofol supply across the rest of Ontario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf we need to shift supply from a regional and an ethical sharing perspective, we can support our colleagues and patients,\u201d said Alex. \u201cWe’re thinking outside the box; we\u2019re looking at alternatives, and we make contingency plans in an attempt to be ready for what may lie ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pharmacists like Alex also work closely with other medical staff and patients in the hospital to provide expertise about the COVID-19 vaccine<\/a> and other medications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine may be new and unfamiliar to many patients, so we are there along with their medical team to answer those questions so patients can feel confident about getting the vaccine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n People may not realize that The Ottawa Hospital\u2019s pharmacy team is doing all of their activities related to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout on top of supporting our normal operations by preparing oral and IV medications for patients at the hospital, educating health-care professionals and patients about medications, and conducting research<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPeople know their community pharmacists, but may not be aware of the pharmacists and pharmacy professionals\u2019 proactive role in their care while in hospital.\u201d said Alex.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pharmacy professionals at The Ottawa Hospital play a central role in getting Ottawa residents vaccinated for COVID-19. From preparing the vaccine to building vaccine confidence, read how pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and pharmacy assistants help expedite the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":66484,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[372,404],"class_list":["post-66483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-healthy-tomorrows","tag-covid-19","tag-working-together"],"acf":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66483","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66483"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66483\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66484"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"two](\"https:\/\/www.ottawahospital.on.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/COIVD-19_Vaccine_Your_Questions_Answered.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAlways looking ahead to provide the best care today<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Promoting vaccine confidence<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
There for all patients, always<\/h3>\n\n\n\n