Covid-19: Diary of a front-line pharmacist (31/3/20)
Hours worked: 8.5hrs
Meals: 1
Water: 3 cups
Toilet breaks: 0
My working hours are gradually returning to normal. I'm starting to feel less stressed and anxious. Though I am still alert as I continually reassess my risk assessment in order to stay ahead of the infection. We can never be too careful and we can't let our guard down. We are only in the beginning and there's still a long road ahead.
Thanks to my team and the locum pharmacist we were able to procure, I spent today catching up on paperwork and finishing the set up for this season's flu vaccinations. The pharmacy has quietened down to normal, but considering our shortened hours to the public we were still getting a steady stream of prescriptions. We are in the process of regaining a semblance of the old normal but I know it is time to adapt and develop a new way forward. Covid-19 would have prompted many to rethink their strategies and business models. This will become a huge lesson for us all and a new normal will emerge.
Flu vaccinations has become a mess. Due to the government moving the vaccination start date half a month early without warning, a lot of services were scrambling to get ready. There were many places like my pharmacy where we did not receive enough vaccines, if any. We were supposed to focus on the essential workers and those at high risk, but somewhere along the command chain, the directives got botched up. Now we are in a vaccine shortage period. More would not arrive in New Zealand until mid to late April, leaving many at risk and anxious. DHBs are looking at redistributing what stock is leftover. The only comfort I can provide to people is that at least during lockdown, there is a small chance of the influenza spreading. That is if everyone behaved and stayed in lockdown.
Barely a week has passed and people were already restless. The number of people I saw on my way home today "exercising" on the street was astounding. Let's not even mention the number of people queuing outside the supermarket hoping to get some "essential" supplies. New Zealand certainly has one of the most relaxed rules I have ever seen for a state of emergency lockdown. I'm not sure how we are to flatten the curve if this continues. Especially when the government is now reconsidering the definition of essential services, and I suspect, in order to help invigorate the economy.
The prime minister today finally admitted that we are not doing enough testing. And she also faced the fact that there were high possibilities of false negatives of those already tested. Contact tracing was failing because people kept moving into each other's bubbles. Community spread was finally acknowledged. Will this admission bring about drastic changes that will help turn the tide? If we still don't act and implement tough measures, it really will be too late, if it's not already. My best advice for our leaders is that going forward, their policies need to be made with the understanding that everyone and anyone is infected. When you prepare for the worst case scenario then you will not fall short.
A couple of good news on the front lines today. The government announced that we will be moving to a new type of electronic prescriptions. No longer will we need faxes, physical paper scripts, barcode scanners and the forever low resolution barcodes that have to be entered manually. To protect those on the front lines, we need to reduce contact with patients as well as items handled by the public. If there's one good thing about Covid-19 it is that it pushed our system to the 21st century. We can now finally start to embrace the age of technology. Hopefully this will prevent further staff abuse. Each day is the same story. "My doctor said they sent it, so it must be here." "Why won't you take my prescription?" "I don't care if you get infected, I just want my medications!" "If I die then it's your fault." No honey, it is not. We've given you options, it is on you if you don't want to take them. Your life is not more important than our safety, we are also humans too. It is time you took responsibility for your own health rather than us babying you each and every time as we take the abuse.
We received another care package sent by the local pharmacy group. Precious face masks and a bottle of hand sanitiser. The store also finally received their allocation of sanitisers for staff. We were running low and I was beginning to worry. The deli department also spared a few boxes of gloves for us. We're down to our last box and we haven't been able to source any for over a month. And finally, the face masks sourced by our head office managers in the pharmacy department arrived. I'm glad to announce we now have enough to share with the rest of the store, at least to last a few days. The unfortunate thing despite the good news is that managers now need to keep a lock on these stock. There's been reports of thefts of these items. I have also heard stories at hospitals where protective gears have been locked up to prevent thefts by staff and patients alike. These are desperate times indeed.
The last bit of fair news today was the prime minister saying a special thank you to pharmacy staff during her press address. Staff across the nation rejoiced as we had fought hard to get our recognition after being side-lined all this time. While I am grateful for the mention, I cannot help but wonder what would've happened if we did not band together to make noise? We fought tooth and nail to be heard and to be included. But why must it result to this? And what of those people who are unable to do so themselves and continue to work in the shadows?
Live. Love. Laugh. Liberate.
- Avis Knows
(This post was originally posted to Avis Knows Consulting Pharmacist.)
