Angie Puim (Rx2011) and her sister Gina DiVizo (Rx2013) are Waterloo Pharmacy alumni and co-owners of Preston Medical Pharmacy in Cambridge. The pharmacy was founded by their father thirty-five years ago.
At Preston, they’ve built a partnership with Community Living Cambridge, an organization that supports people with development disabilities.
“We’ve provided medications for the Community Living Cambridge residences for the past thirty years,” Angie says. “In April, when it came time to vaccinate their residents and caregivers, they called us to help out.”
Angie and her team jumped on the opportunity to get this vulnerable population vaccinated quickly. They had about a week to put together a clinic, so Angie knew she had to work fast.
“I connected with those in my network already involved in clinics: Kelly Grindrod at UW to learn about her experience with the Health Sciences Vaccine Clinic, a nursing friend who ran a mobile clinic for marginalized groups in KW and a pharmacist leading a vaccine clinic in a long-term care home,” she says. “I learned from their experiences.”
Angie asked both her employees at Preston Medical, including co-op students Colleen McIlwain (Rx2021) and Nayan Modi (Rx2022), and fellow alumni in the area to help staff her team.
“We were the only pharmacist-run mobile vaccine clinic in the region,” she says. “Between our members, were able to look after the whole process: drug preparation, injection and after-care.”
Alumni Dani Thomas (Rx2018), Angie Puim and Matt Lecours (Rx2020). Other alumni and students supporting the mobile clinics included Nathan Ricketts (Rx2016), Joey Champigny (Rx2020), Nayan Modi and Colleen Mcllwain.
Working with people with development disabilities required preparation and compassion. The team visited 24 group homes and residences over three days and provided vaccinations to 600 residents and caregivers. They also administered injections for staff members.
“Vaccinating staff helped ease resident fears,” Angie says. “They role modelled the process for the residents. Some of our patients were non-verbal, and so we worked with them and their caregivers who would provide consent for them.”
Many of the residents receiving vaccinations had complex medical histories, including reactions to many injections and drugs.
“To prepare, we had strong anaphylaxis policies and procedures in place, which we thankfully did not have to use,” Angie says.
The pop-up clinic provided the Moderna vaccine. Although this vaccine is easier to work with than the Pfizer vaccine, it still has strict cold-chain requirements, and the team had to work with extreme care preparing each dose. In general, the experience was a rewarding one both for the vaccinators and those receiving their vaccines.
“I was overjoyed,” says Angie, who’s had a passion for serving patients with development disabilities ever since researching and presenting on the topic in pharmacy school. “Running these clinics was one of the best things I have done as a pharmacist during the pandemic.”