Please find correspondence HERE from Prof Sir Michael McBride, Chief Medical Officer, Linda Kelly, Chief Nursing Officer and Mrs Cathy Harrison, Chief Pharmaceutical Officer.
SUMMARY
The JCVI advises a preference for an mRNA vaccine as the booster dose.
There are cases where mRNA vaccines cannot be offered. therefore, in those cases the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine may be considered for persons aged 40 years or over.
If a patient is unable to receive a mRNA vaccine as their booster dose, their GP or Trust clinician will should issue a letter advising that they can receive the AstraZeneca vaccine via a community pharmacy.
The patient should then be advised to make their own vaccination arrangements with a community pharmacy providing the AstraZeneca vaccine.
ACTION
Contractors and pharmacists involved in the provision of this service are asked to review the correspondence.
Please refer to previous DoH correspondence for further information on the COVID-19 Booster programme.
Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.
Kind regards
SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE Chief Executive
Dear Colleague
As you know, the EU Falsified Medicines Directive 2011/62/EU (FMD) and Delegated Regulation ((EU) 2016/161) (The Delegated Regulation) impose legal obligations on the EU medicines supply chain to prevent entry of falsified medicinal products into the supply chain. The Delegated Regulation was implemented in all EU Member States on 9 February 2019. Following the UK’s departure from the EU, the Delegated Regulation ceased to apply in Great Britain from 31 December 2020, but continues to apply in Northern Ireland.
HSCB has released further information HERE for pharmacists in Northern Ireland relating to the decommissioning of UKHSA-supplied vaccines.
SUMMARY
FMD-barcoded packs of routine immunisation programme vaccines that are centrally supplied by UKHSA continue to be supplied with active FMD serialisation, and should be decommissioned by end users in Northern Ireland. Pharmacists in Northern Ireland who access centrally supplied vaccines are encouraged to review local guidance on implementation of the EU Falsified Medicines Directive, which can be found HERE.
To date, COVID-19 vaccines have been exempt from the requirements of FMD, however FMD compliant packs are starting to come through the supply chain now and will require decommissioning. Currently only Moderna COVID-19 vaccine batch 3005688 with expiry date 14/2/2022 can be decommissioned.
Further updates will be provided as more become available.
Alert dispensing teams to the need to decommission the identified batch of Moderna COVID-19 vaccine; and
Be aware that future batches may be also be FMD serialised and will require decommissioning.
CPNI colleagues will continue to keep you up to date with any further notifications.
Kind regards – Mike
SENT ON BEHALF OF PROF. MIKE MAWHINNEY Head of Regulatory Affairs
Dear Colleague
Following the outstanding success of the community pharmacy COVID-19 vaccination programme with almost 180,000 COVID-19 vaccinations having been administered in the sector, we are pleased to reveal plans for a “Big Jab Weekend”. The remarkable contribution of community pharmacy to the vaccination programme has been widely recognised and we are excited to be able to build on this through a “Big Jab Weekend”.
In conjunction with DoH, HSCB and PHA the “Big Jab Weekend” is being planned for Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 December 2021 and will coincide with Trust clinics also planned for those dates. There will be significant PR and communications around the weekend, which we hope will be a further opportunity for community pharmacy to play an enhanced role within the vaccination programme across Northern Ireland.
We intend to secure venues where a number of community pharmacies in an area can come together to provide vaccination clinics outside of the community pharmacy setting. If pharmacies are unable to participate in clinics at one of the venues, they will still be able to run clinics from their own pharmacies over that weekend.
CPNI are seeking expressions of interest from contractors regarding what they would be able to participate in over the “Big Jab Weekend”. We would appreciate if you could complete this short survey HERE, which takes approximately 5 mins to complete. We ask that you answer the following short questions by midday on Tuesday 16 November 2021.
Contractor level information contained within this questionnaire will be shared with HSCB, to enable detailed planning for the weekend to begin.
Please do not hesitate to contact CPNI Office on 028 9069 0444 for further advice or support.
Kind regards
SENT ON BEHALF OF GERARD GREENE Chief Executive
This update contains important information for community pharmacy teams, including details of the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
SENT ON BEHALF OF DR. GARETH C. GILVARY Governance & Support Pharmacist
Dear Colleague
Following on from the CPNI Contractor update on 3 November 2021 regarding the Staff Recognition Payment (SRP). Please note that HSCB have EXTENDED the deadline and asked that claims are to be submitted by 5pm Friday 19 November 2021.
Returns must be made at an individual Pharmacy practice level (and not at a group level).
You are asked to note your Pharmacy Contract number on the subject line of the e-mail when submitting your claim.
Frequently Asked Questions documents have now been placed on the Primary Care Intranet under each service area heading, to assist with completing template and making returns. Any updates to Frequently Asked Questions will be made to the documents on Primary Care Intranet.
Recordings of the zoom sessions held on 3-4 November 2021 have been uploaded to the Primary Care Intranet.
Please note that HSCB require the completed template and relevant supporting information to be returned to HSCB from your practice’s hscni.net e-mail address. If you do not have access to an hscni.net e-mail address, please make contact with your local office.
Please note section B20 of the guidance issued as below, and ensure that all relevant (redacted information) is forwarded along with your claim template year, employee reference and gross salary / contracted hours, is redacted before sending.
HSCB have asked that claims are to be submitted to the appropriate email address below. Please note that pharmacies who have already returned claims templates as part of the pilot process are still required to make a new return on the template provided.
Should you have any queries or concerns in relation to the completion and return of the requested information and documentation within this timescale please contact: StaffRecognitionPaymentQueries@hscni.net at the earliest opportunity.
Please do not hesitate to contact the CPNI office should you require any further information.
At a meeting of the CPNI Board of Directors, held yesterday, the decision was taken to hold the contractor meeting in person to provide Contractors with updates in relation to a number of important current Community Pharmacy matters including:
HSCB Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment Consultation available here (closing date 30 November 2021).
Community Pharmacy pressures and service provision.
Community Pharmacy Funding and Adherence/Compliance services.
I would ask that you make every effort to attend this meeting and I ask that you confirm your attendance (or otherwise) by email to ggilvary@communitypharmacyni.co.uk no later than 12 noon on Monday 15 November 2021.
WhatsApp Business Terms of Service can be found here and privacy policy hereUCA-NI Privacy Policy We take your privacy seriously and do not share or sell any personal details with third parties for commercial purposes. If you have any questions, please contact the CPNI office. You can withdraw your consent to be contacted at any time by calling 028 9069 0444 or by emailing info@communitypharmacyni.co.uk. CPNI Data Protection Policy and Data Retention policy can be found Click Here
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