Ontario pharmacies on board with flu shot immunization

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The Ontario government is making it easier for you to get the flu shot this season by allowing pharmacies to administer the needle. Flu shots are available through your family doctor and nurse-led immunization clinics, but now, specially trained pharmacists have the ability to give Ontarians age five and over the shot.

The Rexall Pharmacy located at 1551 Dundas St. E (at Dundas and First) is one of the few participating pharmacies in the Fanshawe area, along with Guardian Drugs at 1709 Dundas St. It will be the Rexall's first season administering the shot, and pharmacy manager John Dos Santos is happy to be on board. "Now that we know it's something we can do, there's more incentive to go through the training and commit the time and money — we're more apt and excited to go through the trouble."

Pharmacists must go through a full-day seminar for the physical training and an online or in-person lecture on the vaccines themselves and their background. The pharmacists also must be up to date with their first aid and CPR training.

"With Rexall, we're ideally going to get to the point where every pharmacist should be able to inject the dosage," said Dos Santos. Vaccination clinics are known to have long line-ups and can be difficult for some to attend, and Dos Santos said he believes that allowing pharmacies to participate will make it much easier for individuals to get the shot. "It's hard for people to get to their doctors even for regular things, and a lot of people just don't have family doctors so they just can't get the flu vaccine otherwise … the health clinics aren't running all the time, so it may be hard for them to find one that's convenient for them."

Dos Santos recommended the shot for all people but said it's more crucial for some, "especially the really young, the really old or others who may have a compromised immune system — so pregnant women, anyone who's had an organ transplant, anyone who has HIV or other chronic illnesses."

The Middlesex London Health Unit ensures each participating pharmacy has the vaccine in stock, but Dos Santos recommended to call ahead to make an appointment and expect to be at the pharmacy for about half an hour. The flu shot is offered free of charge to everyone six months of age and older who lives, works or attends school in Ontario.

The next flu shot clinic at Fanshawe will be held on November 2 from 12 to 3 p.m. on the second floor of the Student Centre Building.

Other vaccination clinics taking place nearby include Clarke Road Secondary School (300 Clarke Rd.) on November 17 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Carling Heights Optimist Centre (656 Elizabeth St.) on November 24 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.