Two MPs have called upon the government to allow community pharmacies to be able to vaccinate people.
The Shadow Mayor of the West Midlands Liam Byrne MP and John Spellar MP for Warley say that the use of such high street pharmacies would ‘dramatically cut the time it takes to get everyone vaccinated’.
Shadow Mayor Liam Byrne says that ‘pharmacists are being overlooked’ at a time when he says ‘ the country is crying out for a speedy roll out of the vaccinations’.
The MP’s spoke after a meeting with the Sandwell Local Pharmaceutical Committee which represents the eighty- seven pharmacies.
Mr Dev Dalvair who runs a local pharmacy and is Chair of Sandwell Local Pharmaceutical Committee said ‘The government should resource pharmacists better and needs to understand that we already play an important part in healthcare.’
The pharmacists believe they could vaccinate around thirty people a day possibly meaning an extra 17,000 jabs could be delivered a week across Sandwell.
“We are trusted, willing and able and we can provide information and reassurance on every high street. This will increase the capacity of the NHS vaccination effort,” added Mr Dalvair.
Shadow Mayor Liam Byrne said; “Using community pharmacists to administer the coronavirus vaccine would dramatically cut the time it takes to get everyone vaccinated and see the nightmare of the lockdown lifted much earlier.”
