High demand for COVID shots as province cuts fees for pharmacies

The busy vaccine season comes as the province announced a cut to funding pharmacies used to receive for doing COVID-19 assessments. Until last week, pharmacies could bill the province $20 per COVID-19 assessment for up to five assessments a day.

The province announced it would reduce the fees that pharmacies can charge the province for administering vaccines to $17 from $25 ahead of the Oct. 16 vaccine rollouts. Premier Danielle Smith’s government changed its tune last Wednesday and postponed the fee cut until Jan.1. In April, the province plans to reduce fees to $13, the amount pharmacies receive for giving flu shots.

Schettler was relieved to hear the province is delaying the fee cut until January, as she feared having to reduce the hours of a part-time staff member who manages injections.

“I’m disappointed the reduction has been made to match flu injections, given that [COVID injections] are way more work,” she said. “You’ve got to use it within so many hours of opening, some of them require reconstitution … and you’re trying to book your appointments so you’re not wasting doses.

“I don’t know what we’ll do come the new year,” Schettler said. “[We’ll] look at what the demand looks like and decide whether we’re continuing to offer them. We likely will, because pharmacists are like that. We want to take care of the public.” Read more https://www.albertaprimetimes.com/edmonton-news/high-demand-for-covid-shots-as-province-cuts-fees-for-pharmacies-7690288 www.albertaprimetimes.com/edmo…

#covid #vaccines #PharmaciesCheated #abpoli #ucp #cheap