Medicines Management and Vaccine Stewardship in the Centralised Vaccination Centres in the Covid-19 Vaccination Programme in Ireland. Written by Muriel Pate, Medication Safety Specialist Pharmacist in the HSE Quality and Safety Directorate

Medicines Management and Vaccine Stewardship in the Centralised Vaccination Centres in the Covid-19 Vaccination Programme in Ireland.

As the principal phase of the Covid-19 vaccination programme in Ireland comes to an end, it’s a good time to reflect. So, we reflect on the important role that pharmacists and their teams have played in the Centralised Vaccination Centres (CVCs).

At the peak of this once in a lifetime vaccination campaign, there were 48 CVCs in operation across Ireland. This is with at least one CVC in each county. Therefore, they have been responsible for delivering almost 4million doses of Covid-19 vaccines. This was up to the end of October 2021, as part of the largest vaccination effort in modern history.

The end of the day process required intensive collaboration with Clinical Leads. To minimise the requirement for standby lists and ensure all does were used.

The HSE implemented a no waste policy for the Covid-19 vaccines. Therefore the removal of vials from the fridge was aligned with the number of remaining confirmed appointments for the session. But with specific focus on the number of people checked-in and present on site. The live data from TrackVax facilitates both the end of day vaccine reconciliation as sites can keep very close track of opened vials vs remaining appointments and the reporting process as automated reports are generated.

Muriel Pate is Medication Safety Specialist Pharmacist in the HSE Quality and Safety Directorate. She joined the medicines management subgroup of the HSE centralised vaccination centres (CVCs) planning group in January. She took over as chair of the group in April. The group prepared guidance implemented in all HSE CVCs.

With thanks to Muireann Counihan & Ahmed Tamu (4th year pharmacy placement students) and Siobhain Duggan (GS1 Ireland) for their assistance with this article.