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22 INDUSTRY EDUCATION ARM UP FOR BOTH COVID AND FLU JABS BVy Colm Maguire, Group Executive, Member Services and Innovation Group, Pharmacy Guild of Australia. accinations in community pharmacies will take on greater significance in the coming months once the full rollout of the Covid-19 vaccinations program comes into effect. When that occurs, many of you will be working in an environment where people will come into the community pharmacy for their Covid vaccination. Maximising the uptake of people being vaccinated against Covid-19 is critical to helping get our lives and businesses back onto a more normal footing. But paradoxically, as we return to normal, we’ll be out and about more, so we need to recognise that the flu season may strike harder than it did last year. Last year the flu figures were amazingly low. The Immunisation Coalition reports there were 21,356 laboratory-confirmed notifications of influenza in Australia in 2020, compared with 313,061 in 2019. This, of course, was because, for a good part of the year, many of us were in lockdown, and therefore interaction with other people – and thus exposure to the flu – was limited. “The low flu numbers for last year are a double-edged sword.” While it was great to have relatively few cases of the flu, the downside is that, for many people, the risk of getting the flu may not be as front of mind this year as it usually is. This can translate into people thinking that this year they can avoid having a flu vaccination. This is absolutely not the case. In fact, with Covid-19 still a threat, being healthy is a major plank in our defence against it, so having a flu shot – and avoiding having your body weakened by the flu virus – is of huge importance. As the people in the pharmacy with whom patients often have first contact with, you undoubtedly will be asked by patients about flu vaccinations this year, and of course how they sit alongside the Covid-19 vaccinations. It’s important to stress that the flu is still around – and will be around every year – so everyone needs to protect themselves from it. You’ll need to impress upon those coming into the pharmacy that having both the Covid vaccination and the flu vaccination is important in helping maintain their health. You’ll naturally get a lot of questions about mixing the vaccinations, the delay between having them, and so on. The best reference comes from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation, which says: • Routine scheduling and giving of an influenza vaccine with a Covid-19 vaccine on the same day is not recommended. • The preferred minimum interval between a dose of seasonal influenza vaccine and a dose of BNT162b2 or ChAdOx1-S (Covid-19 vaccines) is 14 days. • There is no particular requirement regarding the order of receiving a dose of influenza vaccine and either the first or second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine. • If an influenza vaccine has been inadvertently co-administered or given within a shorter interval than 14 days with a Covid-19 vaccine, revaccination with either vaccine is not considered necessary. Every year we see a debate as to the ideal time to receive the flu vaccination. The general advice to patients is that it’s better to have it a little earlier than risk missing out on it entirely. It’s essential that as many Australians as possible receive not only the Covid vaccine but also the annual flu vaccine. The reality is that the flu is also a very serious health risk and potentially life threatening for some patients. So, in spite of the low number of recorded infections of the flu last year, we must be vigilant. We can’t afford to relax and think the flu threat has somehow faded away. The best way to be protected – for ourselves, our family, our patients and our community – is to get vaccinated, and to ensure as many people as possible get vaccinated. Get your shot and spread the word. When dealing with inquiries about the flu vax, it might be good to see if your pharmacy is part of the Pharmacy Guild Corporate Vaccination Program, which offers an economical and convenient way for employers to facilitate flu vaccinations in the workplace. As opposed to existing workplace vaccination programs that involve in-office visits by healthcare professionals, the program is flexible in that it allows staff to choose the date, time and local pharmacy most convenient to them (via the Guild member network). Pharmacies can sign up for a program to service the business community. RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • APR 2021