When searching the National Drug Schedules (NDS) for specific vaccines, pharmacy professionals may find it hard to locate certain listings. This is because vaccines that have not been reviewed individually by the National Drug Scheduling Advisory Committee (NDSAC) are not specifically mentioned in the NDS. Vaccines that have been reviewed by the NDSAC will have a specific listing indicating their schedule.
To support pharmacy professionals in finding scheduling for specific vaccines, the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) has provided an update on clarification of vaccine scheduling in the NDS.
Some examples of vaccines not specifically mentioned in the NDS include the HPV vaccine, the pneumococcal conjugate 13-valent vaccine, the pneumococcal conjugate 20-valent vaccine, live herpes zoster vaccine, and the COVID-19 vaccine. However, these products are still subject to the general vaccine listings found on the above NAPRA webpage.
Please note that Alberta’s drug schedules are mostly aligned with NAPRA scheduling, however exceptions do exist and there are several vaccines scheduled by NAPRA as schedule 2 that are schedule 1 in Alberta. When determining drug and vaccine scheduling, pharmacy professionals should refer to the ACP Drug schedules webpage and review both the Alberta exceptions list and the national drug schedules on the NAPRA website. If an Alberta specific exception to the NAPRA schedules exists, the Alberta exception takes priority.
*This article was amended at 3:55 p.m. MT on September 21, 2022, to reflect the exceptions that exist in Alberta for some vaccines.
