Pharmacists dispute claims they opted out of COVID-19 vaccine preparation

The UHM has disputed a claim by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) president Paul Pace that pharmacists decided to opt-out of preparing the COVID-19 vaccine, burdening nurses.

“It turns out that pharmacists are in fact preparing the vaccine for administration, and notifying the Medicines Authority of adverse reaction to the drug,” the UHM said.

On Sunday, MaltaToday published an interview with Pace, where he told this paper that while in the beginning, MUMN was under the impression that pharmacists would be the ones preparing the vaccines, with "the health department’s blessing", pharmacists instead opted out leaving the task up to the nurses. 

The UHM said while pharmacists are in fact administering the vaccine, there are also limitations including the limited number of pharmacists within the government health services.   

“These duties are beyond their normal duties. Many pharmacists have not taken a day off for several months to ensure smooth operations of various pharmaceutical services offered by the government,” UHM said.

The union said the limited number of pharmacists working with the government cannot be compared to the thousands of nurses employed by the state.

“Despite this, government pharmacists are dedicated to prioritizing and focusing on work related to Covid-19 vaccines while still providing all other pharmaceutical services,” the UHM said.

This included the coordination of all national storage and distribution requirements for Covid-19 vaccines, quality assurance measures including controls in hospitals and health centres, and training.

The union added that the work pharmacists are doing is crucial to ensure the successful and risk-free implementation of the vaccination program in Malta.

“UĦM Voice of the Workers notes that medicines and vaccines do not end up on shelves by chance. Pharmacists must work within the framework of complex pharmaceutical legislative aspects,” the union said.

“Pace must first verify the facts before casting a shadow over government pharmacists,” the UHM said.