COVID cases are rising this spring. GTA intensive care units are feeling the crunch. When they’re overloaded, patients are sent to other hospitals who have availability. The Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre in Barrie is one of these hospitals.
University of Waterloo and University of Toronto pharmacy students are partnering to deliver one of Canada’s first pharmacy and technology focused hackathons
Health and technology are destined to work together. The pandemic has only accelerated the speed of this collaboration, with many health-care workers turning to technology-enabled means of delivering services.
Ken Manson and Professor Nancy Waite at work at the new COVID-19 vaccine clinic
On the southern tip of James Bay, on an island in the middle of a river sits Moose Factory. Largely inhabited by people of the Moose Cree First Nation, Moose Factory sits in the Moose River, across from the mainland community of Moosonee. The area is over 850 kilometers north of Toronto although there are no roads that take a traveler this far north, except in the winter when the lakes freeze over.
In November 2019, Jason Wentzell, a regional clinical coordinator for Waterloo Pharmacy, opened Extend Pharmacy. This specialty pharmacy is dedicated to serving cancer patients and caregivers. Four months later, COVID-19 hit Canada.
Each March, University of Waterloo health-care students travel to London for Interprofessional Education Day, an event that brings students together to learn with, from and about each other. The goal is to prepare health-care providers for truly collaborative practice across professions.
When pharmacy student Michelle Liang started her first work term at a Costco pharmacy in January 2020, she hadn’t been trained to administer vaccinations. Today, she has given over 1,000 influenza vaccine injections in the 2020 flu season.
Michelle after giving an injection to pharmacy alumnus Kris Mendoza
COVID-19 vaccinations may be in short supply, but when shipments arrive, Canada will need all the help it can get to administer millions of vaccines across the country.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has recently been approved in Canada and is evaluated to be about 62 per cent effective in preventing the COVID-19 virus.
Kelly Grindrod, a pharmacist and professor, breaks down how this vaccine and others like it work.
What is a viral vector vaccine?
Pharmacy Appreciation Month (PAM) is an initiative led by the Canadian Pharmacists Association. Throughout March, people across the country will celebrate the important contributions that pharmacists, technicians, and pharmacy students have made to the health of Canadians.