Pharmacies in North Battleford are running out of time to use up 123 COVID-19 vaccine doses before Monday. (Canadian Press)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

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Pharmacies trying to fill vaccine appointments

May 13, 2021 | 4:34 PM

Pharmacies in the Battlefords are trying to get more residents to book vaccination appointments.

battlefordsNOW has learned that multiple pharmacies are running out of time to use up their current supply of COVID-19 vaccines over the next few days. Walmart Pharmacy manager Jessica Buettner said they still have 45 appointments left to fill before Monday evening.

“We got a shipment of 150 doses of the Pfizer vaccine,” she said. “Right now, we can only do first doses, so we’re trying to use these all up.”

If the supply isn’t used up, pharmacies have to dispose of the remaining vaccine supplies. The news that a shipment is coming in only comes a few days before it arrives, which Buettner said has made getting the word out difficult.

“We are trying our absolute best not to do that, but they can’t be used after the five days are up,” she said.

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Another reason for the vaccine buildup is recipients cancelling their appointments. Pharmacist Sanjay Pandya from Pharmasave said that’s been happening increasingly in recent weeks.

“When I call, they say ‘I got mine from drive-thru, got mine from walk-in’,” he said. “We’ve had a few today.”

The drive-thru clinic, located at 391 Yellowhead Highway, is open Friday and Saturday. Pharmasave also needs to use up their supply by Monday evening, as they have 54 doses remaining.

battlefordsNOW reached out to several other pharmacies in the community, with Battlefords Prescription Centre having 24 doses available until Monday evening and Discovery Co-op’s Pharmacy needing to use up five doses by the end of Friday.

As of May 13, 545,459 vaccines have been administered and the active case total for COVID-19 has dropped to just over 2,000. More than 43,926 positive cases have been detected, with 41,381 recoveries and 513 deaths.

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cjnbnews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW