U.S. pharmacists can now prescribe COVID pills. Canada should follow suit, experts say

The Canadian Pharmacists Association says 'pharmacists in every jurisdiction' should be allowed to prescribe Paxlovid for COVID-19 following U.S. FDA's authorization on Wednesday.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Wednesday gave state-licensed pharmacists the green light to prescribe Pfizer’s COVID-19 pill — also known as Paxlovid — to eligible patients. In Canada, only some provinces allow this but the Canadian Pharmacists Association says that “pharmacists in every jurisdiction” should have the authority to recommend the antiviral treatment to those that need it.

“Pharmacists in every jurisdiction should be enabled to provide the necessary COVID-19 testing, prescribing and dispensing of Paxlovid for high-risk patients,” Danielle Paes, chief pharmacist officer at the Canadian Pharmacists Association told Global News Thursday.

“Authorizing pharmacists to prescribe can improve access to equitable care and encourage faster initiation of (COVID) treatment by streamlining the whole process within pharmacy – screening, assessing, prescribing, dispensing,” she added.

According to the FDA, the use of the pill, authorized to treat newly infected at-risk people to prevent severe illness, has jumped in recent weeks in the United States and the same thing is being reported in Canada, according to the Canadian Pharmacists Association.

Currently, only pharmacists in Quebec, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador have been authorized by the provincial health authorities to prescribe the antiviral treatment.

“You may be interested to know that pharmacist prescribing has increased uptake,” Tyler Gogo, a spokesperson for the pharmacists association, told Global News in an email Thursday.

“For instance, during the period following the authority being granted to pharmacists in Quebec, more than 68 per cent of Paxlovid treatments were prescribed by pharmacists,” said Gogo.

According to Health Canada, the antiviral Paxlovid can be given to adults 18 and older who test positive for COVID-19, experiencing mild to moderate illness and are at high risk of becoming seriously ill.