In between studying for his classes and winter term exams, pharmacy student Mayur Tailor has been closely following news related to COVID-19.
Noticing that pharmacists weren’t often being included in discussions involving frontline health-care providers, the first-year student jumped into action, rallying a team of University students from across Ontario on two overarching initiatives.
Firstly, we want to support public health messages and provide information about the role pharmacists are playing in fighting COVID-19. Secondly, we saw a lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and wanted to help ensure that pharmacists have the appropriate equipment they need to provide care.
These goals inspired Tailor to found Pharm Against COVID-19 with several of his classmates. In March, Tailor and about fifteen other pharmacy students got to work reaching out to organizations in the Kitchener-Waterloo area, the GTA, and the Ottawa area – places where the students were based since the University of Waterloo shifted classes to an online format – to see if they had PPE available for donation to frontline health-care workers.
A member of Pharm Against COVID-19 making a delivery
So far, the group has coordinated the donation of more than 20,000 units of PPE and other useful supplies to hospitals and pharmacies. These donations include masks, gloves, hand sanitizer, surgery caps and more than 6,500 3D-printed face shields. Locally, they have created 100 thank you packages for Kitchener-Waterloo pharmacists which contain donated La-Roche Posay creams and sanitizer. Creams help alleviate the cracked skin that is common with extended PPE wear.
“We are collaborating with other volunteer groups, like Conquer COVID-19, and working together to help essential workers get the protection they need,” Tailor says.
Members of a pharmacy team receiving a delivery
Pharm Against COVID-19 has expanded, including members from the University of Toronto pharmacy school as well as McMaster University and the University of Ottawa. As they continue to receive requests from pharmacists, Tailor is looking for more students to get involved.
Together with OPA, the students helped launch #PharmacistsOnTheFrontline, a social media campaign that captures the stories, faces and names of the many pharmacists and students working hard to serve Ontarians during the pandemic.
Interested readers can learn more or view available volunteer positions on the Pharm Against COVID-19 Facebook page.