Federal Pharmacy Council celebrates the National Pharmaceutical Day mobilized for pharmacies to be vaccinated

On January 20, when vaccination against Covid-19 begins in Brazil in most states, the Federal Pharmacy Council (CFF) and the 230 thousand professionals in the field will be celebrating the National Day of the Pharmacist. The date was set to remember the importance of this category’s work for health, especially now that the country is starting the most challenging vaccination campaign in its history. In addition to reiterating the campaign’s message – “ Pharmacists are essential. And they deserve our recognition ”, which encourages the population to thank them – the council takes advantage of this moment to reinforce, to the Ministry of Health, the successive demands for pharmacists and pharmacies to be allies of the Unified Health System (SUS) in immunization of Brazilians.

The role of pharmacists in the pandemic has been strategic, so much so that the Ministry of Health included pharmacists in the priority group to receive the vaccine in phase 1. They are involved in vaccine and drug research; has been working hard in industry and logistics to supply health services; supported the operation of the 90,000 pharmacies, even during social isolation, and performed more than 1.4 million Covid-19 tests in hospitals and to ensure the quality of health care in health surveillance. Not to mention its decisive participation for the arrival of the vaccine in Brazil.

Pharmacists have the technical responsibility for producing these drugs in the country as their exclusive responsibility, integrating the teams of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), Instituto Butantan and so many other research centers that worked in clinical studies. They also stood out in the process of authorization for emergency use by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), concluded in a record time of nine days. And they will be there, ready to evaluate, certify and authorize the next lots, either in an emergency or in a definitive way. ” Now, they can and must be allies in vaccination too “, comments CFF president, Walter Jorge João.

In 2014, under Law No. 13,021, pharmacies of any nature were authorized to have serums and vaccines available for immediate assistance to the population. And the conditions for vaccination to be carried out in these establishments have been regulated by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) since December 2017, through RDC nº 197. It is important to remember that, even before the publication of the specific law and standard, the pharmacies were already authorized to dispense drugs that require special conditions of preservation and to perform the application of injectables.

Many pharmacies have already adapted themselves to provide vaccination services and, yes, they have adequate conditions to face this health crisis. In large chains, according to the entity that brings together establishments in this segment, there are 4,573 units with immunization rooms and 6,860 vaccine pharmacists, with the capacity to apply more than 2 million doses per week, following all safety criteria against Covid-19 . The number may be even greater, also considering independent pharmacies, and that soon, more pharmacists will be prepared to provide these services, through a course that will be offered by CFF, free of charge.

“ At a time like the present, when all efforts need to be added to contain this epidemic, we see with concern the line of reasoning of some experts, who insist on concentrating vaccines in health posts to, for example, reduce the logistical effort ”, ponders the CFF president. “ The Primary Care Network is indeed a great asset of public health in Brazil, but it has not been able to absorb demand during the campaigns. Just remember the huge queues that formed during the immunization against Influenza last year, even in cities with a more structured health network ”, he observes.

They certainly contributed to the dissemination of Covid-19, the agglomeration of the elderly and other members of the priority groups at the doors of the health units, as well as the constant coming and going to the vaccination posts because of the shortages episodes, which forced repeated displacements of people. These facts were widely reported in the press and any help to avoid them can only be considered welcome. “ Distributing the vaccines so that pharmacies around Brazil apply to anyone who is in order to take them at that moment, it can be done and it is a fantastic initiative ”, highlights Walter Jorge João.

The cooperation of pharmacies with public health in vaccination against Covid-19 is taking place in the United States, Ireland and the United Kingdom, and should also start in Denmark. ” These countries have already realized that pharmaceutical care, a practice that is still little known in Brazil, is a great ally for the effectiveness in monitoring patients and promoting health, whether through consultations in pharmaceutical offices or through vaccination “, comments the CFF president. In Brazil, the health professional with a higher education level legally supported to work inside pharmacies, also according to Law No. 13.021 / 2014, is the pharmacist.

Influenza – In the last campaign against influenza, pharmacies were vaccinated in several places in the country, helping to prevent crowding. Adhesion occurred in the states of Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul and in the cities of Campo Grande (MS) and São Paulo (SP). In the state capital of Porto Alegre, Porto Alegre, one fifth of the more than 700 thousand doses used were applied by pharmacists in private pharmacies. In Campo Grande, more than 26 thousand of the 231 thousand doses of the flu vaccine were administered in pharmacies, which corresponded to 11.5% of the total.

Campaign – The National Pharmaceutical Day campaign that the CFF has been promoting since January 11, is a continuation of a marketing action that began on the occasion of the International Pharmacist Day, September 25th. The campaign seeks to encourage recognition of the 220,000 professionals working in the country for their important contribution to public health in the Covid-19 pandemic. The launch took place during an action on Rede Globo’s Encontro program, with an interview by the entity’s president, Walter Jorge João, to presenter Patrícia Poeta, who replaced Fátima Bernardes in the program. To review the interview, access the link from time 58’28 ” – https://globoplay.globo.com/v/8886412/programa/

The campaign also included the disclosure of reports on Portal G1, about the work of pharmacists in combating Covid-19. Stories of pharmacists who made and are making a difference in the country’s fight against the disease are available on the website and can be read at https://glo.bo/3oKbOa0

History – Pharmacy is historically linked to vaccines. But one of the most representative Brazilian pharmacists in this area is Rodolfo Marcos Teófilo. Graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of Bahia in 1875 and living in the state of Ceará, he faced two smallpox epidemics, which victimized thousands of people in Fortaleza and cities in the interior of Ceará, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1862, Rodolfo Marcos Teófilo learned the techniques of vaccine production and, in 1901, he started to immunize the population, without any support from the public authorities. With only the help of his wife and an assistant, he promoted mass vaccination in the poor neighborhoods of Fortaleza until 1903.