Heavy workload, fatigue hit pharmacists like never before in rush for COVID tests, vaccines

At Kristen's Pharmacy in Southampton, Ont., the day begins with staff shuffling in for their COVID-19 symptom screenings, temperature checks and daily rapid tests. Doors and phone lines open at 9 a.m., and from then until roughly noon, it's "utter pandemonium," according to owner and pharmacist Kristen Watt.

Eight phones ring off the hook; the pharmacy takes both walk-ins and appointments; people drive from 70 kilometres away because they can't get a slot at their local COVID-19 testing site. 

Pharmacy workers across the country are struggling with what has become an unbearable workload, particularly in recent weeks, as provinces speed up the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine boosters and ramp up the distribution of rapid tests — all to fight the Omicron variant.

At pharmacies where patients can get vaccinated, tested and pick up a rapid-test kit, the influx of walk-ins, phone calls and demand for appointments has been non-stop. The stack of paperwork that piles up with every test and shot can take hours to fill out. 

And that's all on top of a pharmacist's ordinary, non-pandemic duties.

"There's no other way to put it right now: We are just burnt out," Watt said. 

"We are dealing as much as we can with everything we can, because on top of all this COVID stuff, our regular job of being pharmacists and dispensing medications and taking care of our patients hasn't changed."

There was a lull in pharmacy activity in Ontario in the fall, when 90 per cent of the province's eligible population was vaccinated and boosters were not yet available to the wider public, said Justin Bates, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists Association. 

What's happening now is what he refers to as the "peak of the surge." There's enough vaccine for everyone, but the volume of demand means that getting a jab in every arm will take time.

Since February, community pharmacies across Canada have administered 12 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine — including first, second, third and pediatric shots, according to a report released earlier this month by the Neighbourhood Pharmacy Association of Canada and Canadian Pharmacists Association. 

Though drugstores are capable of delivering a vaccination service, it's up to the provinces to give notice when there are changes in eligibility requirements. And eligibility requirements have been in near-constant evolution in recent weeks. 

Pfizer's pediatric vaccine was approved for children aged 5 to 11 on Nov. 19. Then, several provinces expanded booster eligibility to those over 50 — only to expand it to those over 18 shortly after. On Dec. 15, Ontario slashed the required interval between second and third shots in half, giving even more people eligibility for booster appointments. 

(That's not to mention the introduction of a free rapid-test kit handout program in Alberta and Quebec pharmacies, where doorways are plagued by long lines and demand outweighed supply.)

WATCH | Pharmacists describe burnout, high demand at pharmacy locations across Canada: