![]() ![]() Pharmacies also have been handling more phone calls from customers with questions about vaccines or COVID-19 tests, noted Justin Wilson, who owns three independent pharmacies in Oklahoma. On top of that workload and routine prescriptions, many drugstores also have been asking pharmacists to counsel patients more generally on their health or about chronic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure. Credit: AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File That has led to frazzled workers and even temporary pharmacy closures. A rush of vaccine-seeking customers and staff shortages are squeezing drugstores around the country. Pharmacist Todd Gharibian, right, administers a dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine to Toshiko Sugiyama, left, at a CVS Pharmacy branch on March 1, 2021, in Los Angeles. Booster shots and the expansion of vaccine eligibility to include children have since stoked it. ![]() ![]() Pharmacists say demand for COVID-19 vaccines started picking up over the summer as the delta variant spread rapidly. "There's crazy increased demand on pharmacies right now," said Theresa Tolle, an independent pharmacist who has seen COVID-19 vaccine demand quadruple since the summer at her Sebastian, Florida, store. The White House said Thursday that more than two in three COVID-19 vaccinations are happening at local pharmacies.Īnd pharmacists worry another job might soon be added to their to-do list: If regulators approve antiviral pills from drugmakers Merck and Pfizer to treat COVID-19, pharmacists may be able to diagnose infections and then prescribe pills to customers. The push for shots is expected to grow more intense as President Joe Biden urges vaccinated Americans to get booster shots to combat the emerging omicron variant. Drugstores are normally busy this time of year with flu shots and other vaccines, but now pharmacists are doling out a growing number of COVID-19 shots and giving coronavirus tests. ![]()
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