The Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) welcomes the move by the Western Australian Government to allow trained pharmacists to administer the flu vaccination to people aged 10 years and over.
PSA WA Branch President Dr Fei Sim commended the government's decision to allow pharmacists to protect more West Australians from the flu.
"Allowing trained pharmacists to administer vaccines will significantly increase the immunisation rates within the community.
"This is particularly important as confirmed flu cases in WA are already dwarfing those of last year," Dr Sim said.
As of 18 June, the WA Department of Health has advised that there have been 9016 laboratory-confirmed influenza infections in the state and 29 reported deaths. This is in comparison to 1399 confirmed infections and 4 deaths during the same period in 2018.
"The administration of vaccines by pharmacists complements the excellent work done by GPs, nurses, Indigenous Health Workers and other immunisers. It increases the immunisation rate and has a positive effect on people's health in Western Australia," Dr Sim said.
PSA commends the WA Government for making use of pharmacists' expertise and training to better protect the community against vaccine-preventable diseases.
