Amcal, Jenny Milner-Marsha Watson and Priceline all confirmed they had undergone COVID-19 vaccine training, and were now awaiting confirmation from the government regarding when they would receive vaccines.
Jenny Milner-Marsha Watson pharmacist Shona Lee said the Federal Government had recently opened up the vaccine roll-out to include pharmacies, following a successful trial.
“We have already filled out all the paperwork and undergone the training,” Ms Lee said.
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“We actually have to undergo a training program to administer any vaccine.
“In terms of the COVID-19 vaccine it is a little bit different for a few reasons. It's a multi-dose vile, for example.
“Normally when we give a vaccine it's a pre-filled syringe. So there was some extra training around it, and a few other things.
“It's basically the same training all health practitioners have to go through.
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“We will start off with the AstraZeneca vaccine, then we'll get the Pfizer, and finally the Moderna, which is similar to the Pfizer vaccine.”
Ms Lee said at this stage they could not give an exact date of when they could start.
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Amcal pharmacist Lisa Marta and Priceline pharmacist Shonae Flynn said they were in the same position.
“We don't have an exact date confirmed,” Ms Marta said.
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“We know the next roll-out date is supposed to be August 23.
“There is a chance we might get them earlier, and if that happens we will be able to begin vaccinations straight away.”
All three pharmacies said they would let the public know the exact date as soon as they found out.
Ms Marta said they would operate a bit differently to the GP surgeries, which run clinics on specific days.
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“The Pharmacy Guild of Australia is encouraging pharmacies to have a process in place that will allow a person to walk in and get a vaccine,” she said.
“That does, however, depend on our workload.
“If someone requests a vaccination when we are very busy we may have to ask them to come in when it is quieter.
“With our flu vaccinations, for example, we ask people to attend in the afternoon when we are a bit less busy.”
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The Ensign recently reported that the Church St Clinic, the only place in Benalla offering COVID-19 vaccinations, was set to deliver it's 5000th vaccination on Saturday July 31.
While some of those will be a second dose, it highlights around 30 per cent of the Benalla Rural City population have had at least one.
Part of the government's reasoning behind rolling the vaccine out to pharmacies, as well as GP clinics, is to increase uptake.
“Some people might have been hesitant to go to the doctors for a vaccine,” Ms Marta said.
“However, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia are thinking there will be a lot more uptake in pharmacies.”
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