Faculty of Medicine, Collegium Medicum, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, Wóycickiego 1/3, 01-938, Warsaw, Poland; Trade Union of Pharmacy Workers, Meriana C. Coopera 6B/10, 01-315, Warsaw, Poland; Polish Pharmaceutical Group, Zbąszyńska 3, 91-342, Łódź, Poland; Employed Pharmacist in Europe (EPhEU) C/o Verband Angestellter Apotheker Österreichs (VAAÖ) Berufliche Interessenvertretung, Spitalgasse 31/4, 1090, Vienna, Austria; Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, CollegiumMedicum in Bydgoszcz, A. Jurasza 2, 85-089 Bydgoszcz, Poland.
Trade Union of Pharmacy Workers, Meriana C. Coopera 6B/10, 01-315, Warsaw, Poland; Polish Pharmaceutical Group, Zbąszyńska 3, 91-342, Łódź, Poland.
Res Social Adm Pharm. 2021 Jan;17(1):1807-1812. doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2020.05.033. Epub 2020 Jun 12.
The COVID-19 epidemic has affected every area of life. The greatest challenge has been to adapt the functioning of the health service to prevent the spread of the epidemic and to help infected patients. This has required the involvement of not only doctors and nurses, but also pharmacists. In the face of this pandemic, governments in many countries have granted pharmacists greater authority.
The purpose of this paper is to review the legal extension of the role of pharmacists in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The review considers recent changes in European countries, Canada, and the United States.
A literature review was performed to summarise knowledge about the extension of the role of pharmacists during the pandemic period. Key articles were retrieved mainly from PubMed and Google Scholar, using the terms "COVID-19", "2019-nCoV", "coronavirus", and "pandemic" in combination with "pharmacist" as keywords for our search. We included scientific publications from February 1, 2019 to May 15, 2020.
Pharmacists have been given numerous opportunities so that they can actively join in the fight against the virus. Some of the novel legal extensions aimed at aiding overloaded healthcare systems are as follows: authorisation to prepare hand and surface disinfectants, eligibility to renew chronic treatment prescriptions, as well as filling pro auctore and pro familia prescriptions by pharmacists, performing COVID-19, influenza, and Group A Streptococcus screening tests, and vaccine administration. Moreover, many countries have facilitated Internet services, such as virtual medical consultations, e-prescriptions, and home drug delivery - to promote social distancing among patients. To mitigate drug shortages, the following strategies have been implemented: alternative sourcing, strength, generic, or therapeutic substitution, and preparing compounded formulations at the pharmacy.
Novel legal extensions have allowed exploitation of the full potential ofpharmacists worldwide, aiding the limited resources of overloaded healthcare systems.
COVID-19 疫情已影响到生活的各个领域。最大的挑战是调整卫生服务的运作方式，以防止疫情传播并帮助感染患者。这不仅需要医生和护士的参与，还需要药剂师的参与。面对这场大流行，许多国家的政府都赋予了药剂师更大的权力。
本文旨在回顾 COVID-19 大流行背景下药剂师角色扩展的法律依据。该综述考虑了欧洲国家、加拿大和美国最近的变化。
通过文献综述总结了大流行期间药剂师角色扩展的相关知识。主要从 PubMed 和 Google Scholar 检索关键文章，使用术语“COVID-19”、“2019-nCoV”、“冠状病毒”和“大流行”与“药剂师”结合作为我们搜索的关键字。我们纳入了 2019 年 2 月 1 日至 2020 年 5 月 15 日的科学出版物。
药剂师有很多机会可以积极参与抗击病毒。一些旨在帮助超负荷医疗系统的新型法律扩展如下：授权制备手部和表面消毒剂、有资格续签慢性治疗处方、药剂师填写 pro auctore 和 pro familia 处方、进行 COVID-19、流感和 A 组链球菌筛选测试以及疫苗接种。此外，许多国家都促进了互联网服务，例如虚拟医疗咨询、电子处方和家庭送药——以促进患者之间的社交距离。为缓解药品短缺，已实施以下策略：替代采购、强度、仿制药或治疗替代、以及在药房制备复方制剂。
新型法律扩展使全球药剂师的潜力得到了充分发挥，为超负荷医疗系统的有限资源提供了帮助。
