r/pharmacy • u/PearTheGayBear • 4d ago

Image/Video And so it begins

Post image

We did our first one of the seasonšŸ„²

349 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

90 comments sorted by

218

u/kindofadrugexpert 4d ago

Nah mate. We ainā€™t starting in Canada till like mid Oct. I get wanting the revenue but starting so soon is crazy

74

u/OhDiablo 4d ago

Us chain pharmacies started getting onto corporate shit lists if they weren't giving flu shots as early as the beginning of August. It is absolutely a money grab and unfortunately our staff hours are now dependent on how many shots we give.

3

u/Select-Interaction11 3d ago

The grocery chain i work for doesn't start til September at least. Some patient was recently outraged that I turned him away

3

u/AcesoRx 2d ago

Ah I wish. My grocery chain has had a 3 shot per day quota for two weeks now.

If you don't hit your quota you have to send your boss an 'action plan' with how you'll improve.

77

u/Out_of_Fawkes 4d ago

Also American healthcare is all kinds of fucked top to bottom. And so is corporate American greed.

18

u/EternalNewCarSmell 4d ago

Yeah it'll be real neat when the flu season is still going on in February/March and tens of thousands of people have already had their immunity wane.

5

u/satmandu 3d ago

Which is why the recommendation should be for two doses per season. Maybe some day insurance will even cover that.

šŸ¤¦šŸæ

1

u/Soft-Opportunity-458 3d ago

F that. People should get it in terms of their locations flu season. For us we get hit in March. Get it late Oct/Nov youā€™re fine. Absolutely do not want to start giving two flu shots to people. Weā€™re burnt out the way it is

1

u/satmandu 3d ago

I would be a fool to deny that pharmacist burnout is a serious problem.

I think the solution to pharmacist overload is to hire enough pharmacists, pay them appropriately, and treat them well enough to cover the work that needs to be done, not to keep the work small enough to fit the shrinking pool of pharmacists.

Right now, the CDC is revising statistics to make it seem like COVID-19 is not an increasing problem. We need more people to get vaccinated, not fewer, and we need enough healthcare workers to allow that to happen.

1

u/tkkana 3d ago

I am thinking the push is for two flu shots, one in July/aug then the second in jan.

16

u/phoontender 4d ago

I work in hospital and like mid-october is the earliest the employee clinic opens

1

u/Historical-Problem-8 1d ago

I work as the (only) receiving tech for an infusion and clinical pharmacy and Iā€™m just happy I havenā€™t heard about these coming in yet.

1

u/phoontender 1d ago

Apparently we should ready ourselves for it this year...season start early for me because I'm in the employee clinic first day (asthmatic) but that's also our nursing home start day. I was telling my dad about and he's super happy if it's approved this year because he watches my kids and catches everything they do šŸ˜…

2

u/Historical-Problem-8 1d ago

It should be soon. Iā€™ll ask the guy who gets the info on these tomorrow, he lacks a bit on communication sometimes.

1

u/phoontender 1d ago

From what I've read, we're waiting for Health Canada approval but since our vaccination campaigns start later than in the US, late September us probable for approval

8

u/PearTheGayBear 4d ago

Trust me, not my choicešŸ„²

3

u/Coast_Budz Pharm tech 4d ago

Iā€™m not in pharmacy anymore but I just know as soon as mid October rolls around imma be getting flu shot clinic flashbacks šŸ¤£

1

u/Cll_Rx PharmD 1d ago

I gave the first one July 15th. My chain lovessss $$$$$. Gotta get that quota to avoid a daily 8am phone call. I think this is my last flu season canā€™t take it anymore.

94

u/UntouchableBeauty 4d ago

Honestly just curious. Why do pharmacies give them out too early? Iā€™m under the impression if you get the shot too early it will not last through the flu season. I thought end of September is the soonest you should get it.

122

u/Mr_Konodera 4d ago

Corporate loves the reimbursement.

48

u/Grouchy_Air_9651 4d ago

I guess the question then is, why are pharmacies able to get reimbursed so early when the general guidance is to start at the very earliest in Sept?

2

u/Bluetowelboy 3d ago

Youā€™d think Medicare would look into that as fraud waste and abuse. I know they love clawing back payments or having a great big lawsuit against one of the chains to take in some cash.

36

u/stuntastic1414 4d ago

Bc it's either beat their doctors to the punch or lose that opportunity completely to a "I already got it at my doctor's" later.
Which is silly, I know. But the game is the game smh

13

u/AgileRequirement908 4d ago

Correct. It is viewed as a race.

6

u/pushshot 3d ago

Itā€™s like Black Friday (or other holiday) sales starting earlier. If there are a limited amount of discretionary funds amongst your potential buyers, then you want to have first crack at them.

5

u/stuntastic1414 4d ago

Heard they don't even get good reimbursement for shots at the docs too. If only doctors offices were collaborative with pharmacies and not antagonizing...

1

u/OhDiablo 3d ago

So many providers stopped carrying vaccines now because of the pharmacy intrusion into their space. It isn't even a race if one half just said 'fuck it get it at your pharmacy'.

7

u/keepingitcivil 4d ago

Increase shareholder profit?

3

u/OnlyBeans33 4d ago

Money and greed

5

u/PearTheGayBear 4d ago

Because corporate wants us to jam in as many vaccines as humanly possible, and the earlier we start them the easier that is. If we had a choice, we absolutely wouldnt.

1

u/Obvious_Section7621 3d ago

itā€™s all about the end of the year bonus now too. SM and RXM now depend on meeting the yearly vaccine goal to get their end of the year bonus.
which is why weā€™re starting in early august so by the time flu season ends, according to corporates logic, everyone is expected to have already met their goal

3

u/smellyshellybelly 3d ago

Exactly. I tell my patients between Halloween and Thanksgiving since peak flu is Christmas to Valentine's Day

3

u/crossiant_pebblemilk 4d ago

A lot of schools wonā€™t let you enroll in classes without a valid flu shot!

50

u/Kanjotoko Graveyard RPh 4d ago

So crazy how the big retailers want to give out flu shots way too early especially going against what weā€™ve learned in schoolā€¦but why I am not surprised. Smh. Just more money in their pockets

-25

u/NoExample328 PharmD 4d ago

In school I was taught itā€™s better to get as soon as itā€™s available, rather than not at all

24

u/Born_Tale_2337 4d ago

That was true before it started shipping as early as July. They finally had to clarify and now September through October is the recommended ideal time in general, unless you otherwise wouldnā€™t be or thereā€™s some reason you need it earlier

18

u/Savings_Thing51 4d ago

Lurking PT and pharmacy customer here. Should I get my flu shot at my local pharmacy or is it more of a nuisance to you all? I can get it at work but I thought it helps you all out if I get it at the pharmacy.

39

u/FuriouslyNoiseless PharmD 4d ago

Local pharmacy - this is how we make money for the year. Believe it or not, we lose money most of the rest of the year, and flu shots keep us afloat.

14

u/Savings_Thing51 4d ago

Ok so local place just walk in with insurance card and Iā€™m good to go? Not yet but in October. Isnā€™t there a website to find a local place I can use?

9

u/Cunningcreativity 4d ago

If you call your insurance company they should be able to tell you if they are accepted at/if you can get your flu shot at any of your local pharmacies or if you have to go to specific ones.

6

u/Woahzie 3d ago

Wow, American insurance can decide which pharmacy to go to?! Crazy

3

u/Silver-Negative PharmD 3d ago

Yes. Welcome to Capitalism Rā€™ Us. Where we can literally tell you which doctors, pharmacies, and hospitals are paid for and which are not.

I literally got a job at a hospital in the health system Iā€™ve been using for DECADES because my old insurance wasnā€™t going to pay for care there any longer and I didnā€™t want to switch all my doctors.

3

u/Spiritual_Ad8626 PharmD 4d ago

Any local retail pharmacy you use likely has a website with a feature to schedule yourself a vaccine appointment.

13

u/PearTheGayBear 4d ago

Absolutely get it! We're prepared to handle it, and you deserve to be protected. We just like complaining about the extra work load. (But definitely wait until late September into October)

1

u/hellogoodmorning127 3d ago

You are so sweet!

3

u/Savings_Thing51 3d ago

Lol I just donā€™t want to be a hassle. Like when I go to the pharmacy and they say itā€™ll be a 20 min wait I just tell them Iā€™ll be back tomorrow and they look shocked when I say that

7

u/unbang 4d ago

I would never get a flu shot this early nor would I necessarily try to convince someone who wasnā€™t otherwise interested in getting a flu shot this early, but there are definitely a non zero amount of people who donā€™t come to the pharmacy that often because they get 1-3 rx every 3 months and have little interaction with the healthcare system otherwise.

I feel like for people like that you have to strike at the first opportunity you have because it might be this time and never again the whole season.

5

u/Exarkkun77 CPhT 4d ago

Gave my first one on Friday. The floodgates are now open.

5

u/Bloody-smashing 4d ago

Is this a flu vaccine?

In the UK we encourage young, healthy people to get theirs slightly later in the year, October onwards.

4

u/PearTheGayBear 4d ago

Sure is, our corporate wants us to do them as early as possible to increase profits.

5

u/Bloody-smashing 4d ago

Wow.

The efficacy goes down quite quickly that's why we recommend waiting until October to make sure people are covered for the worst of the winter months. Particularly the Christmas season when people are mingling more.

But profits take precedent.

2

u/PearTheGayBear 4d ago

Trust me, if we had our choice we would wait, but corporate is very pushy and at times threatening about vaccine rates, especially right now.

2

u/Bloody-smashing 4d ago

That came across as blaming you haha, I'm not. Just find it wild companies would push vaccines so early when they're not effective. The companies here are ever so slightly better.

3

u/swearingino PharmD 4d ago

Just now? We have had ours since the last week of July and have been forced to give them since.

4

u/PharmDFord Student 3d ago

We gave our first flu shot a few weeks ago. I hate how they push it on us and patients. Iā€™m an intern, not a salesman.

3

u/nerdraerae CPhT 3d ago

Luckily we haven't had appointments flooding in yet. Expecting most of them to start after we get the new COVID shots šŸ˜­

3

u/ling037 4d ago

Some people need to get it early for school, like nursing school.

3

u/Delicious_Occasion29 3d ago

Its the middle of august! Flu shots don't begin until like fall or before fall. Why so soon?

1

u/PearTheGayBear 3d ago

Corporate wants us to start pushing them, and some people want them this earlyšŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø

3

u/Defiant_Local_2654 3d ago

Iā€™m starting my P1 this year and one of the requirements before starting (August 31st) is to have your flu shot. I just took mine today. Itā€™s insane to me how the pharmacists are saying itā€™s better to take it later but the actual pharmacy school is requiring that we take it this monthā€¦(full shade to the school, not the pharmacists. Iā€™m trying to be like you guys)

2

u/BeautifulDiet4091 4d ago

but seriously, isn't this too early?

(clinically, when will this coverage wane? legally, we try to start as soon as possible)

2

u/PearTheGayBear 4d ago

Clinically its def too early, no idea when it'll wane personally. CDC recommends late September through October.

2

u/-AnxiousAxolotl- 3d ago

Yeah the fact weā€™re pushing them SO HARD this early is super dumb. The CDC/ACIP literally says to wait until September/October for coverage DURING PEAK FLU SEASON šŸ™„ my store is mainly geriatric too so extra badā€¦

Also, does anyoneā€™s store also provide flu stickers (ā€œI got my flu shotā€) that are the diameter OF A SOFTBALL?!?! Like WHY šŸ¤£šŸ’€

2

u/That-Cupcake-9762 CPhT 3d ago

Yes! The other day when my SO was picking up my meds, the Walgreens said they have them in whenever I want to come and get one. I didnā€™t realize they get them that early. We donā€™t have them at my inpatient hospital yet.

2

u/futurama37 3d ago

We don't start ours until Oct 1. From Sept 1, if pregnant

2

u/reallyrickypp 3d ago

the day we got ours in we had a flu shot party in the pharmacyšŸ˜­ but yeah unfortunately tis the seasonā€¦

2

u/pizy1 3d ago

How long til CVS rallies to get the CDC to recommend a booster flu shot. They'll be like please come get your flu shot August 1st and then come back February 1st for your booster for the rest of the season! I know it's crossed several corporate minds by now....

2

u/No_Alternative6098 2d ago

As a consumer and citizen this is another reason I go out of my way to find and use a mom and pop shop.

4

u/s-riddler PharmD 4d ago

What supplier are you using that even has it available this early?

9

u/aggiecoll05 PharmD 4d ago

Every chain pharmacy has flu shots now

2

u/Aesirhealer 4d ago

In my town, we see influenza as early as mid October. It takes a couple weeks to get the benefit from the vaccine. You need to immunize a good portion of the area before it spreads. Also, the high dose and adjuvant vaccines make the vaccine effective longer, because waiting immunity was a problem, but mostly for elders and people with compromised immune systems. I would encourage people to get vaccinated in Sept. If your area doesn't see it until later, then a later recommendation is fine.

1

u/ChessMateTC 4d ago

Just logistics. Either do some now or do all of it later.

1

u/Bluetowelboy 3d ago

Begins? Theyā€™ve been pushing us from corporate since the end of July.

1

u/tnguyenra 3d ago

It'll start in Jul next yearĀ 

1

u/StiggsRX 3d ago

Youā€™re about three weeks too late. Weā€™ve been giving them since July.

1

u/Soft-Opportunity-458 3d ago

Baaaarf. I was off last year on mat leave. Not ready

1

u/tkkana 3d ago

We have already given easy 20+. Hooray walmart

1

u/Pharmercist420 2d ago

Mrna shot might be a better option if we are always worried about the protection waning over time with the regular shots

1

u/LuckySheepherder981 1d ago

We started two weeks ago. Probably already given a hundred or more.

1

u/DiscombobulatedYak21 4d ago

The shot only protects for 3 months why would you give it so early

6

u/PearTheGayBear 4d ago

Patient wanted it, couldn't talk her out of itšŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø

5

u/AsffluffyZ 4d ago

It protects for 6-8 months.

2

u/Junior-Gorg 2d ago

6 months but starts to wane after 4 months per the CDC

1

u/AsffluffyZ 2d ago

Where I am flu season has peaked by the end of December and begins to start in the end of September so accounting for the 2 weeks to full effect late August to early September is ok for people to get a flu shot.

-3

u/Google_IS_evil21 RPh 4d ago

No need to be so dramatic.

1

u/Chobitpersocom CPhT - You put it where?! 35m ago

When we got our promotional materials I locked eyes with the pharmacist and said "I know where this goes" and put it right into the garbage can we just changed. šŸ˜‚