Canberra pharmacies to downscale COVID booster vaccine rollout due to underfunding

PharmaSave Woden owner Faruq Amin said he opted to order the lower threshold of about 120 Pfizer doses owing to the strain of administering them.

"Already we're stretched with the first normal scheduled vaccination ... and the remuneration around that it's really running at loss," he said.

"We're trying to absorb it, absorb the extra costs ... but we're reaching a point where it's really difficult.

"And you can see the crunch of losing money out of this process."

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The federal government will remunerate metropolitan community pharmacies $16 for administering booster shots, the same rate as the first dose, while the second saw a return of $26 (where both doses were administered through the pharmacy).

Pfizer doses have been made available to pharmacies, after the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved a Pfizer booster vaccine for people aged over 18 in October.

Mr Faruq said he would monitor demand for doses, but that the strain of administering jabs so far had been significant.

Capital Chemist Charnwood Managing Partner Samantha Kourtis said they would provide boosters to vulnerable people, but would have to turn others away.

"We made a public announcement that at our pharmacy - because of the lack of remuneration and the impact it has on our core business and the scope of practice across all areas of healthcare - we are going to send you to an ACT vaccination hub or your GP," she said.

ACT Pharmacy Guild Branch President Simon Blacker said some pharmacies may opt out of the booster program because "they're stretched already".

"We have a tired workforce just like everyone else, but we've been on that frontline keeping our doors open to keep the community safe," he said.

Mr Blacker detailed a multi-step process to administering vaccines beyond the jab itself, which included: Drawing up doses, screening patients, checking and uploading the vaccine to the immunisation register, monitoring patients and completing the paperwork.

"So there's seven or eight steps to the process of providing a COVID vaccination. It's not just bang, there's your jab, and it's all sorted in two minutes," he said.

Mr Faruq confirmed he may not be able to provide a booster dose to everyone who asked for it.

"I'm trying to do the vaccination within the day ... Monday to Friday, between 10 and four when I have extra pharmacists working with me," he said.

"And just just looking at the logistics, there is a lot of pressure on who's available to do what, at what time."

Capital Chemist, which has 21 ACT pharmacies, would "downplay" its involvement in the booster rollout because of the strain, Group Business Manager Andrew Topp said.

"We'll always put the health of our beloved patients first, but [there are] things like we've got no capacity to hire extra staff, we've got no capacity to pay extra to get staff to do overtime, because the return just isn't there," Mr Topp said.

As of Monday night, community pharmacies in the ACT had administered nearly 44,000 vaccines - more than 31,000 AstraZeneca doses and about 12,500 Moderna doses.

Mr Blacker said pharmacies had played a large role in the ACT's high vaccination rates, including changing perceptions of AstraZeneca in the territory, which became available to those 18 and older the weekend before Canberra's lockdown.

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