The UConn School of Pharmacy has developed a program for pharmacist to become certified as vaccinators for the COVID-19 vaccine.
It was a special moment at St. Francis Hospital as both Dr. Reginald Eadie and Dr. Syed Hussain obtained their second doses of their COVID-19 vaccines. This time was a bit different than the first, as the vaccine was administered by the president of the hospital.
Saint Francis Hospital President Thomas Burke recently completed the UConn immunization training for pharmacists to become certified as vaccinators.
"It was 21 1/2 hours of training," Burke explained. "Half of that which was self study at home the other half with an instructor, then I had to obtain CPR training and certification as well as actual classroom administering a vaccine to a counterpart and have that observed by a professor."
As pharmacists around the state get this certification, Burke said it was important for him to do his part and to support his team in anyway he could.
"It’s one thing to lead as a president of an organization from a board room but it’s another thing to lead by actually administering vaccination and I felt inherently motivated that that’s what I needed to do," said Burke.
Dr. Jeffrey R. Aeschlimann is an associate professor at the UConn School of Pharmacy. He touched on the demand and importance of the certification going forward.
Local
"This December there were I believe 15-20 pharmacists that went through it and I believe it is a similar number if not a little bit more are scheduled for January as well," said Aeschlimann. "Pharmacists are going to be one of the very important accessible health care providers that can help the people of the state of Connecticut get vaccinated for COVID so the more people we can get on the front lines and ready the better."
To learn more about COVID-19 vaccines and how to sign up when you're eligible, visit https://health.uconn.edu/coronavirus/covid-vaccine/