“In 20 years of being a pharmacist, this is the proudest moment I’ve ever had,” said Monte Steeves, pharmacy owner of Jean Coutu on Mountain Road in north Moncton.
Steeves spent the weekend giving free flu shots to nearly 1,000 New Brunswickers, none of whom had to leave their vehicles.
In what he believes is the first of its kind in the province, Steeves and his team set up a drive-thru flu shot clinic.
“We thought about this three months ago,” said Steeves. For a variety of reasons, some physicians are not offering the flu shot this year, he said, and not everyone has a family doctor. “We are the solution to vaccinating a large quantity of people,” he said.
Steeves and his team saw two options, either rent a venue like a hall and move people through safely, similar to voting in an election, or have people remain in their own space, their cars, he said.
They chose the latter.
Steeves was initially sent 500 vaccines, but early in the weekend it was clear demand would far exceed that. Other Jean Coutu pharmacies in the area gave him some of their supply to make it 1,000.
Brian Cormier is one of the nearly 1,000 who lined up by car to get the shot.
“It took about 20 minutes to get through the line,” said Cormier. “I didn't even have to leave the car for the shot.
"I was then asked to stick around for 15 minutes afterwards in case of an allergic reaction,” he said, adding that there was even a system where you could beep your horn if you were having an issue.
“The demand is here,” said Steeves. “As soon as I get more supply, I will do more clinics.”
He has also started sending the blueprint for his flu-shot clinic to other pharmacies, which operated somewhat like the drive-thru COVID-19 testing centre at the Moncton Coliseum.
Pharmacies are private. Renting tents and paying staff are costs pharmacy owners bear, he said. Pharmacies are compensated by the province for administering the flu-shot to New Brunswick residents.
“You have to have a certain number of people come through for it to be cost-effective,” he said.
And the worst thing, for everyone, would be if the government were to give out the flu shot and it sat unused, he said.
But where the demand exists, which it does in booming northwest Moncton, he’d like to receive more vaccines to do it again. He said he has also been asking to be able to hire nurses or nurse practitioners to help with injections, which would allow him to have two or three tents going at the same time, he said.
“Let's face it, what we're doing is rehearsing for a COVID vaccine, and how you can move that many people through safely and get vaccinated, and I think this is the proper solution,” he said.
Steeves said pharmacists across the country are talking about best practices for everything from testing to vaccines at pharmacies right now, recognizing that different regions have different needs.
