During the pandemic, ACP provided a temporary authorization for regulated members to collect a throat swab specimen to be sent to a laboratory for testing for COVID-19. That authorization has now expired.
In the Standards of Practice for Laboratory and Point-of-Care Testing (POCT), Standard 29(b) provides direction to regulated members on collecting specimens to be sent to accredited laboratories in Canada. The standard indicates that a regulated member may “only collect specimens of capillary blood, saliva, or urine” for that purpose.
The above restriction only applies to specimen collection for external labs. For point-of-care testing performed in the pharmacy, regulated members may continue to perform throat swabs as part of their practice when appropriate.
As this was the final active piece of the COVID-19 guidance for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians document, this guidance will also be retired.
