Pharmacist flu questions have kept the ACP phone lines busy over the last few weeks. Here is one of the most frequently asked questions and our answer.
Q. Can a pharmacist with injections authorization administer Trivalent Inactivated Vaccine (TIV) to children?
A. Yes, as long as the child is 5 or older and as long as the pharmacist uses provincially funded vaccine only for those children 9 and over. The contract with AHS stipulates that pharmacists will NOT use provincially funded influenza vaccine for children under 9 and, according to ACP standards, pharmacists may not administer an injection to children under 5. So that means if the pharmacist immunizes children 5-8 with TIV, he/she can’t use provincially funded vaccine and can’t bill Blue Cross, and so must charge for the vaccine and administration.
