The urgent need to administer COVID-19 vaccines across the US is the demand for another suddenly hot commodity: pharmacists.
The federal government started this week send vaccines to pharmacies across the country as part of an effort to start vaccinations. As a result, pharmacies are adding pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other support staff to treat patients, manage vaccine supplies and give shots. Some employers even offer five-digit sign-up bonuses to pharmacy students even before they complete their studies.
“Over the past five to six years, the market has been saturated with pharmacists and good job opportunities have been few,” said Micheal Hogue, dean of the Loma Linda University School of Pharmacy. “Today, I am very aware of local and national chains that are hiring pharmacy students and pharmacists as soon as possible to meet the demands of the COVID vaccination efforts.”
Scott Knoer, CEO of the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), also pointed to the boom jobs for pharmacy students.
“It was quite difficult to get a job in the pharmacy. It has changed because of COVID, and pharmacists are literally saving the world through vaccination,” he told CBS MoneyWatch.
Pharmacy mailing lists have risen 35% compared to a year ago, with large chains and independent pharmacies hiring more than Americans. scramble to secure appointments. CVS Health, the country’s largest pharmacy chain with 10,000 stores across the US, announced in October that it would fill 15,000 new positions, including 10,000 pharmacies for technicians, to help respond to the pandemic.
Walgreens, the second-largest U.S. pharmacy chain, with more than 9,000 stores, is also renting fast. It filled 7,500 of 9,000 newly created pharmacy rolls to help with COVID-19 testing and vaccination. It is also training existing staff to administer the vaccine, and aims to train 45,000 team members by February, including 30,000 pharmacists and 15,000 pharmacy businesses, said Rina Shah, vice president of Walgreens- pharmacy operations, in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch said.
The chain also employs 25,000 staff members who are vital to supporting pharmacists and technicians.
New rule is a “game changer”
A flyer distributed by CVS Health indicates that the company also offers ‘Hero Pay’ to pharmacy teams administering the COVID-19 vaccine. A company spokesman said he would continue to hire staff to meet demand as the pandemic continues.
Most pharmacists are trained and licensed to give vaccinations once they have obtained a doctor in the pharmacy. But a rule change issued by the Trump administration in October also allows for pharmacy technologies that do not require a pharmaceutical doctor. degree, to undergo a training course for the administration of COVID-19 vaccines under the guidance of a pharmacist who is fully licensed.
The change allows pharmacists to delegate the task of giving a technician a chance, to free them up to perform other tasks. Pharmacists remain responsible for verifying that the vaccine is suitable for the patient and that it has been formulated correctly.
“In the pharmacy workflow, immunizations are sometimes such a bottleneck, because as a pharmacist you have to step out of everything you do to give the patient a chance. Getting a technician to do that is a game changer in pharmacy practice.” said Kim McKeirnan, associate professor of pharmacotherapy at Washington State University College of Pharmacy and author of the training program for pharmacists technicians.
Five-digit bonuses
In early December, Washington State University College of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences received an influx of requests for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to help with COVID-19 vaccinations, according to Linda Garrelts MacLean, vice dean of external relations for Washington State University College or Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
An internal task force includes a kite of Walgreens advertising sign-up bonuses of up to $ 10,000 for pharmacists and $ 500 for technicians. Other chains are offering up to $ 20,000, a pharmacy administrator said.
Thanks to WSU College of Pharmacy
Breanna Byrne, a fourth-year student at WSU’s pharmacy school, is positive about her job prospects. She has already completed the coursework that allows her to administer the COVID-19 vaccine, and works weekends at the Fred Meyer Pharmacy, where she earns $ 23 per hour as an intern.
“They offered me an internship to help with the flu season and now it’s being fed to vaccinate for COVID,” Byrne told CBS MoneyWatch.
Her fiancé, Jeff Gist, also a fourth-year student at WSU, recently got an internship at Walgreens to help with vaccinations. “They said once I graduate in May, it will be a full-time position. I’m sure we’ll apply a lot of vaccinations,” he said.
The pandemic highlights pharmacists’ wide-ranging skills and puts it at the forefront of COVID-19.
“Pharmacists as a profession have worked very diligently to ensure that its value is understood, and this particular situation merely emphasizes the value that the pharmacist brings to the community and in the team,” said Garrelts MacLean of WSU.
Industry professionals say pharmacists are ready for an unprecedented public health challenge.
“It’s pharmacists’ 9/11. In the beginning we had no protection: no PBM, no masks, no plexiglass. Pharmacists went to work, they served their community and they do it now. Usually pharmacists in the background, but now we are right up there, ‘said Knoer.