Province Invites Community Pharmacies to Join the COVID-19 Vaccination Effort
On February 2, 2021, Manitoba Health and Seniors Care (MHSC) announced that physicians and pharmacists will be recruited to vaccinate the general public against COVID-19 within their respective practices. MHSC expects that additional vaccines with less stringent storage and transport requirements will become available in the coming days and weeks once they are approved by Health Canada.
Manitoba’s Vaccine Implementation Task Force will be inviting pharmacists and physicians to apply to provide these COVID-19 vaccines to patients and the public once they become available. Participation in the COVID-19 vaccine campaign is voluntary and MHSC registration forms will be posted in the coming days. It is expected that the application process will be open for several weeks.
For more information, please visit:
https://manitoba.ca/covid19/vaccine/partners/index.html
The Manitoba government News Release is available at the following link:
https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=50558&posted=2021-02-02
Please note that for the purposes of the COVID-19 vaccine administration in community pharmacies, all pharmacists wishing to participate must have an active Certification of Authorization to Administer Drugs and Vaccines by Injection from the College. Please see the Administering Drugs and Vaccines by Injection Information Sheet for more information on obtaining and maintaining authorization.
The COVID-19 pandemic is continually evolving. The College will continue to update registrants on COVID-19 developments through this webpage, Friday Five publications, and email communications.
Annual Learning Portfolio Review
The College is currently conducting the 2019 – 2020 Annual Learning Portfolio Review. Approximately 20% of licensed pharmacists are randomly selected to participate in this process, and emails were sent to the pharmacists who were selected earlier this week.
The Annual Learning Portfolio Review ensures that pharmacists have participated in continuing professional development (CPD) throughout the licensing year to maintain competence to practice.
As well, pharmacists chosen for the review who are authorized to administer a drug or vaccine by injection must also submit copies of their valid CPR and First Aid certificate(s) issued by the approved training provider. Pharmacists who have indicated in their Registrant Portal that they have completed the Manitoba Module: Ordering Laboratory Tests also need to submit their statement of completion for the learning activity.
Please check the primary email inbox for the email address that you have provided to the College, as well as your junk inbox, to see if you have been selected to participate.
Summer Student Job Opportunity
The College has an exciting summer job opportunity for a pharmacy student. We are looking for someone who is passionate about patient safety and is keen to contribute to exciting patient safety initiatives at the College. Join our skilled team of pharmacists and help further your career in pharmacy.
Please, read the job posting for more information.
Submit an application on or before Friday, February 25, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. to Lindsay Henderson, Executive Assistant, LHenderson@cphm.ca
Renewal Requirement Reminder- “Pause Before you Post: Social Media Awareness” Module
The College of Pharmacists of Manitoba (CPhM) has worked in collaboration with seven other regulators from the Manitoba Alliance of Health Regulatory Colleges (MAHRC) to develop an educational professional development (PD) module on social media and professionalism. The module is titled “Pause Before You Post: Social Media Awareness” and it is now available on the registrant homepage for all pharmacists and pharmacy technicians to complete. It is the first annual PD module that pharmacists and technicians will need to complete for license renewal.
All pharmacists are required to complete this module before October 31, 2021 and all pharmacy technicians are required to complete it before May 31, 2021 in order to be eligible for the 2022 licence/listing renewal.
The module has been accredited by the CPhM for up to 1.50 CEU and must be claimed in the PD year the module was completed. To access the module please log into your Registrant Portal from the CPhM website. If you have questions, please contact the College at profdevelopment@cphm.ca.
Council Meeting Highlights
At its meeting February 2, 2021, Council:
- Retired of the Guidelines for Pharmacists Selling Naloxone as a Schedule II Drug
- Due to the recent regulatory amendment to exclude naloxone products packaged for use in opioid overdose from the conditions for sale of Schedule II products, Council has retired the “Guidelines for Pharmacists Selling Naloxone as a Schedule II Drug”.
- All relevant and applicable content from the guidelines has been introduced into a FAQ document titled “Naloxone: Frequently Asked Questions”.
- Approved six additional Extended Practice Pharmacist (EPPh) specialty qualification programs offered by the Board of Pharmacy Specialties (BPS) under section 96(g) of the Pharmaceutical Regulation:
- Cardiology Pharmacy;
- Critical Care Pharmacy;
- Geriatric Pharmacy (formerly offered through The Commission for Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy);
- Infectious Diseases Pharmacy;
- Pediatric Pharmacy; and
- Solid Organ Transplantation Pharmacy.
The EPPh applicant who has completed one of these specialty programs must be currently practicing and must have practiced for at least 1,000 hours in the two years before applying for registration in the specialty area in a collaborative healthcare setting. These hours must have been completed after finishing the specialty qualification program.
For more information on how to attain an EPPh designation, please see the College’s information sheet.
Compounding Question: Can I dilute or alter a compound that I received from another pharmacy?
No. Compounds that are prepared by a pharmacy cannot be further manipulated or used as an ingredient in a future preparation that will be compounded by another pharmacy. Health Canada’s Policy 0051 authorizes a pharmacy to compound a drug for a patient of another pharmacy only if it is pursuant to a prescription or if it is in anticipation of a prescription. There should be a reasonable expectation of receiving a valid prescription for a patient for that specific compounded preparation, which requires no adulteration.
For further information regarding the Policy on Manufacturing and Compounding Drug Products in Canada (POL-0051), please see the following link.