More than 2000 pharmacies ready to provide rapid COVID-19 tests to small and medium employers in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario

OTTAWA, ON, Aug. 13, 2021 /CNW/ - Throughout the pandemic, pharmacists and pharmacy teams have been playing an essential role in keeping Canadians safe and healthy. From administering over 8 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to date and providing COVID-19 testing in some provinces to answering daily questions from patients about the virus and helping to allay concerns about vaccine hesitancy, pharmacists have been there when Canadians needed them.

Now, pharmacies are once again stepping up to support their communities by providing rapid tests to employers.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) has been working with Health Canada and its partners in the pharmacy community to make rapid test kits available in pharmacies for workplace testing by small and medium-sized enterprises. Increasing access to these tests is an important step in Canada's COVID-19 screening and recovery strategy, and pharmacists are ideally positioned to aid with distribution. About 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 do not have symptoms, so regular rapid testing can help reduce the likelihood of spreading COVID-19 to others in the workplace.

Over the past several weeks, well over 2000 pharmacies in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Ontario have signed up to be part of this federal initiative. In doing so, pharmacies are supporting employers in keeping employees and customers safe and helping to reopen the economy. Every day, more pharmacies are signing up to make these rapid test kits as accessible as possible.

As part of the program, small and medium-sized enterprises can sign up on the Government of Canada portal and view a list of participating pharmacies in their communities. Once registered, we encourage employers to contact their local pharmacies to order the tests before they pick them up. As highly trained health-care professionals, pharmacists will show employers how to use and interpret the tests and provide advice on what to do in case of a positive result.

CPhA is pleased to support this initiative and looks forward to expanding the program to other provinces.

About the Canadian Pharmacists Association

The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) is the uniting national voice of pharmacy and the pharmacist profession in Canada. As pharmacists undertake an enhanced role in the delivery of health care services, CPhA ensures that the profession is recognized as a national leader in health care, influencing the policies, programs, budgets and initiatives affecting the profession and the health of Canadians. More information is available at www.pharmacists.ca.

SOURCE Canadian Pharmacists Association