© Provided by The iBoots, Superdrug and several independent stores across Halifax, Macclesfield, Widnes, Guildford, Edgware and Telford became the first of hundreds of community pharmacies to offer vaccinations protecting against Covid-19 (Photo: by Leon Neal/Getty)
High street pharmacists began administering coronavirus vaccines this week, forming a key component in the national rollout that will help to weaken the virus' hold on society.
Boots, Superdrug and several independent stores across Halifax, Macclesfield, Widnes, Guildford, Edgware and Telford became the first of hundreds of community pharmacies to offer vaccinations protecting against Covid-19 on this week, but many professionals are warning that while pharmacists are suited to administering the vaccines, their branches are not.
One pharmacist said that ensuring social distancing is just not possible.
It comes as Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, said he wants "to see every possible pharmacy deployed to help" in the Covid-19 vaccination programme.
Up to 70 more pharmacies will be taking bookings for appointments for next week, with 200 in total offering slots over the next fortnight, according to NHS England.
More than 2.6 million people in the UK have now received their first dose.
Could pharmacies take on more?
Hazel Kirwin is an emergency care pharmacist and thinks pharmacists absolutely should be a big part of the vaccination rollout, as Labour suggested.
"We already have the designated clinic areas for our well established flu vaccination programmes. We already have links with those in surrounding community and good patient rapport," he told i.
He argued it would take some of the workload off GP's and primary care centres and that pharmacists are experts in speaking to patients about the safety and efficacy of treatments.
Struggles to socially distance
As was seen in the first few days of mass vaccination centres coming into use, pharmacists have, however, reported issues with social distancing.
One Oxford-based GP pharmacist said that on the first day of giving out vaccines, patients turned up early in spite of warnings not to, leading to a large line forming around the ten-car wide carpark. Naturally this was not as safe as a patient turning up exactly for their slot and leaving as the next person arrived.
Mr Kirwan added that high street sites are not built for large numbers of people. "For example at your small local pharmacy there might only be room for one patient to wait and one patient to be vaccinated at any time. Given that a patient has to wait 15 minutes post dose you might be limited to four patients per hour? So it's a much slower service than these super centres."
"We try our best but we can't ensure social distancing", the Oxford-based pharmacist told i. "We can't stop patients from not doing it. We try our best but it's also just sometimes not realistic - how can I be socially distant giving a patient a vaccine?"
Still, the pharmacists said surgeries kept windows open, even when it was snowing, and everyone wears masks to maximise the safety.
Other issues that have arisen
One positive is that we "are ahead of schedule", the Oxford-based pharmacist said. "So we started doing 75+ patients - the third group on the priority list."
In contrast, a friend of their's has only begun vaccinating patients this week. "So there's a lot of discrepancy in who is getting the vaccine."
This is naturally frustrating for patients who are 80+ in other areas who are yet to receive the jab but seeing acquaintances who are younger, called to get theirs.
One thing they have also come across is patients trying to choose which jab they get. Serving Oxford-residents, the pharmacist said many were trying to get the Oxford jab because they had lived there their entire lives. Patients are not allowed to pick their treatment so were told they could either have the one provided, or face the risk of not being offered one again.
"Some patients declined the jab because they wanted the opposite one."