'Miscommunication' leaves hundreds of Sask. pharmacies without COVID-19 vaccines Wednesday

An "unfortunate miscommunication"left more than250 pharmaciesnotifying patients that the COVID-19 vaccine appointment they booked for Wednesdaywill no longer go ahead.

A planned delivery of the highly-coveted vaccine doseswill notbe available on Wednesday as pharmacies expected,according to an email obtained by CBCSaskatchewan.

The note, sent from a health ministry email, says a miscommunication between the province's drug plan and extended benefits branch (DPEBB) and McKesson, a pharmaceutical distributor, means that the doses will instead arrive on Thursday.

"The DPEBB apologizes for any inconveniences to all affected pharmacies and patients as a result of this rescheduling," the email reads.

The health ministry told CBCSaskatchewanthat during the initial stages of itspharmacy vaccine administration pilot program, which began in late April,doses of the Pfizer vaccine were delivered on Thursdays.

"There was a plan to shift the delivery day to Wednesday this week, but there was a miscommunication that meant this week's shipment was still scheduled for Thursday," a spokesperson for the ministry said in an emailed statement.

"It resulted in a one-day delivery delay, and processes have been improved to ensure such delays as a result of delivery do not happen again."

As many as 259 pharmacies across the province did not receive expected doses on Wednesday morning.

The province estimatesas many as7,000 vaccination appointments couldbe impacted, although it will depend on how many bookings each pharmacy had scheduled.

It has left many pharmacists and their patients "frustrated," according to Dawn Martin, the CEO ofthePharmacy Association of Saskatchewan, a non-profit that represents pharmacists and pharmacies in the province.

"Pharmacists are no different than any other health provider out there. Thereare lots of pressure, lots of stress, lots of quick movement, lots of pivot happening because of the pandemic," she saidin a video interview Wednesday morning.

Despite some frustration, many patients had been very understanding when informed of the delay, Martin said.

The purpose of the pharmacy pilotwas to increaseaccess to vaccines in the general public and vaccinatepharmacy and grocery staff working in the facilitieswhere the vaccines werebeing offered.

As of Monday,368 pharmacies in 111 communities are part of the program.

Appointments at pharmacies aren't scheduled through a centralized system, as they are with appointments done by the province.

Instead, pharmacies can choose how they do their booking as long as it complies with the current provincial age guidelines on COVID-19 vaccinations.

That arrangement put the onus on pharmacies to notify customers of the cancellations Wednesday.

"I know that they wish that it hadn't happened. But bottom line is these things happen and we're just going to move on and continue the good work that pharmacies do," Martin said.

The one-day delay isn't expected to have a long-lasting effect on the program.

There may initially beripple effects as people get their appointments rebooked and pharmacists work to deal with the doses that are arriving, Martinsaid, but nothing long-term.

"Plans are already underway to help things go smoother, to make sure that, you know, that the time frame and the deliveries and everything like that are going as predicted," she said.