Crystal Lewis, third-year pharmacy student at Washington State University, said her top 3 study snacks are coffee, salty snacks such as Chex Mix or cheetos, and popcorn.

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Crystal Lewis, a third-year pharmacy student at Washington State University, about her top 3 study snacks for pharmacy students. 

PT Top 3: Pharmacy School Snacks

interviewed Kurt Proctor, PhD, RPh, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at the National Community Pharmacy Association, on how the Biden administration’s launch of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program may affect the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination rollout.

During this discussion, Proctor discusses his outlook on the future of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout under the Biden administration and the value of the pharmacist in the fight against COVID-19 in 2021.

 What is your outlook on the future of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout under the Biden administration, and is there anything you plan to keep your eye on?

 Well again, right now I think my biggest concern as we sit here on this date is [that] I don't think they're fully leaning into this federal program yet. I mean, they've given it a little bit, [but] I don't think they're leaning into pharmacies, I don't think they're leaning into the existing infrastructure. From my taste, I'm hearing too much talk about FEMA and events at football stadiums—that's not healthcare, that's not the way this is, [and] that's not what is going to engender confidence in the minds of patients.

So, I'm hoping that the administration will get back to the existing infrastructure, which is where patients go for things like their flu vaccine. That's how they like to get that. I understand folks wanting to control and everything, but we've got a pretty doggone good infrastructure of community pharmacies and the distribution system and all that that does this every day of the year and has been doing it every day of the year since before I was born, which was a long time ago, and they have the capacity to do that. It's not like the infrastructure that's in place has been stretched so thin that we have to call in the military to help, we're not in that situation at all. And we’re not even close to being in that situation. By the time we get enough vaccine going there will be enough people that have gotten it already, and I think we'll be able to keep up with the demand right alongside the quantity of the supply. So, we got to get folks leaning into this existing infrastructure that is at this point woefully underutilized.

 Great. What is the value of a pharmacist in the fight against COVID-19 in 2021 and beyond?

 Yeah, it's education, it's trust. They care for these patients, they know them. Like I mentioned earlier, we haven't talked a lot about it, but the socially vulnerable populations we have, there's a lot of independent owners that are ethnic themselves. They have a population they serve, whether it be a Somalian owner serving a Somalian population or a Korean owner serving a Korean population, or across the board, all different ethnicities—there are owners serving communities like that where they have got the trust of those patients and those patients rely on them as their local health care provider to give them good advice about it.

So, I mean, I think that's a really important point, and the independent pharmacies who are delivering there, they know the population, they know who's vulnerable, they're going out of their way. If they have to go to somebody's home to do it, they're doing that. You can't give an Uber driver the vaccine to take to somebody's house and give it to them, but the pharmacies who are delivering themselves can do that and can reach out and contact those patients. They know them, they may not be patients that are real internet savvy or on the internet at all, and those pharmacies still know those patients, and they're going to be reaching out to them and making sure that that get the vaccine when it's their turn, and people in that condition it's probably their turn.

Pharmacy Times® interviewed Kurt Proctor, PhD, RPh, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at the NCPA, on his outlook on the future of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout under the Biden administration.

Expert Says Biden Administration Must Fully Lean Into Existing Infrastructure for COVID-19 Vaccinations

interviewed Susan Swindells, MD, a professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Director in the Specialty Care Clinic at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, on the impact of the recently FDA-approved once-monthly, long-acting HIV regimen cabotegravir and rilpivirine (Cabenuva, ViiV Healthcare) on how providers care for patients with the virus.

During the discussion, Swindells explained what the findings of the study investigating the treatment demonstrated, and how this new treatment is different from other FDA-approved HIV therapies.

Swindells explained that although the basic care for patients with HIV would remain the same, this new treatment has the potential to improve aspects of the logistics of the patient’s health care experience.

“These days, when patients are doing well on their oral therapy, we may only see them every 6 months. They come in, get a checkup and their lab work, refill, and off they go. So, if they have to come every month, that's going to make a big difference in terms of just clinic scheduling, staffing, [and] some of the logistics,” Swindells said. “Obviously, people wouldn't necessarily need to see a physician or a mid-level every month, but they would have to come to the clinic every month, which they're at the moment not necessarily used to doing. So that will be different for more practical [or] logistical [reasons] than anything else.”

The discussion also included what the adverse effects of the treatment were and how patients responded to them, Swindell’s plans for future research on HIV care and treatment, and her hopes for the future of HIV care.

Pharmacy Times® interviewed Susan Swindells, MD, of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, on the impact of the recently FDA-approved once-monthly, long-acting HIV regimen on how providers care for patients with the virus.

Impact of New Once-monthly, Long-acting HIV Regimen on Patient Care

During this discussion, Proctor discusses some positive stories from pharmacies engaged in COVID-19 vaccinations, any unforeseen issues that may have arisen at COVID-19 vaccination sites, and whether incentives on the state or federal level for pharmacies to vaccinate would be beneficial.

 Have you heard any positive stories from pharmacies engaged in COVID-19 vaccinations?

 Sure. So far anybody that's been involved with this has been doing it through the state, and they've been following the direction of the local health department, the state health department, the governors, or whomever it might be that is engaged pharmacies. We certainly saw in a few states that use independent pharmacies for the long-term care facilities, which was right out of the blocks of West Virginia, which is one state that's cited most frequently for how successful they were by engaging independent pharmacies in that long-term care space and in those facilities. But we certainly have lots of members who, working with their state, have gotten vaccines, are doing clinics, vaccination events, etc—consistent with what the state is wanting to happen. So yeah, there's a lot of those good stories out there for sure.

 Have you heard of any unforeseen issues that may have arisen at COVID-19 vaccination sites that may be beneficial for pharmacies to consider and prepare for?

 Not so much. I mean we saw in the news some of the big chains scheduling systems have had issues, which is somewhat understandable given the volume of interest in this, but so I don't really think there's unforeseen issues. Some of them are kind of foreseen in terms of billing issues. Some pharmacies are prepared to be billing this correctly, [but] are the processors, payers, and folks ready to deal with pharmacies providing this on the medical side? They are not always used to dealing with pharmacies and including pharmacies among their providers. So, they need to get used to that.

But the pharmacies, we've been telling them all along to get ready in terms of scheduling capabilities, the waitlist capabilities—being able to report to their state registries all of those kinds of things. The CDC also through the federal program is asking for some additional data, and the pharmacies through the entities in the federal partnership program are working very hard to get what are some new data elements into the mix and get that reported. They're focused on getting to the socially vulnerable populations.

So, not so much unforeseen, but there's some new challenges and some folks who haven't done appointments in their pharmacy before, that may be a little new to them, but many have and many have gotten medication synchronization programs, so they've been doing this appointment-based model for quite some time now and are more used to doing appointments and operating that way than probably some of the bigger pharmacies are. But there's obviously going to be little hurdles along the way, but I don't think there's been any huge surprises in that regard.

 Right. Are there any incentives on the state or federal level for pharmacies in terms of vaccinations, and if not, would incentives be beneficial to consider in order to broaden the accessibility of COVID-19 vaccines across the country?

 Well right now, as we said, the real issue with availability is just the supply of the product itself. So, it's not like there aren't pharmacies that are ready, willing, and able to do the vaccinations and other providers as well, so I don't think it's not a matter of needing to get the people who can do vaccinations to do them—they're ready, willing, and able to do it.

Now, to the extent that any of the payers who don't want to pay even the Medicare rates or something, that could cause a hiccup for folks who say, ‘I'm not being paid enough to do this,’ I mean, that could happen. But fortunately, Medicare set some rates, and most payers seem to be following very closely with the rates Medicare set. So, most pharmacies are motivated by taking care of their patients first and foremost, so they don't really need incentives to do that—that's naturally what they do. If we just give them the vaccine, they're going to, I think, do a pretty good job and not be hesitating to get that vaccine in the arms of the patients in their community.

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Pharmacy Times® interviewed Kurt Proctor, PhD, RPh, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at the NCPA, on positive stories from pharmacies engaged in COVID-19 vaccinations and any unforeseen issues that may have arisen at vaccination sites.

Expert Says Pharmacists Are ‘Ready, Willing, and Able’ to Provide COVID-19 Vaccinations

During this discussion, Proctor addresses barriers to access or other issues to consider for pharmacies interested in administering COVID-19 vaccines, how the implementation of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program by the Biden administration may affect the vaccination rollout timeline, and whether additional vaccine options from Astrazeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax may help President Biden achieve his goal of 100 million shots in arms in his first 100 days in office.

 Are there any barriers to access or other issues to consider for pharmacies interested in administering COVID-19 vaccines through this program or through a future rollout?

 Right. The biggest thing right now is vaccine supply. This program has got about 40,000 pharmacies in it, I believe, and only 6,500 of those will get any vaccine at all, and even though most of them will just be getting 100 doses, some of the chains have consolidated their doses into fewer stores. So, they may have more volume at a store, but overall folks have got 100 doses per store, which is well below their capacity in terms of what they could be doing in a week's time.

So, what's inhibiting anything is just purely the supply, and I think that's understandable. Look at how fast these vaccines were developed—I think manufacturers are doing everything they can to get as much vaccine out as quickly as they can, but there's a tremendous capacity underutilized at this point in the pharmacy community to be delivering these vaccines, and folks have talked about upwards of 140 million between the chains and the independents of what could be done in a month, so we're way below that at this point of getting a million doses into the pipeline a week right now. So that'd be 4 million a month, and we could probably do 140 million, so there's a long way to go, there's a lot of capacity.

 So, are you thinking that with the implementation of this federal program, that goal of administering 100 million shots during President Biden's first 100 days in office is achievable? Is that what you're thinking?

 Well, it's definitely achievable from a capacity to—as we say these days this phrase so much&mdash;get needles in arms, but so that's all about the supply of vaccine. I mean that's the only issue is a supply of vaccine, and from our perspective, making sure that the administration uses this existing infrastructure of pharmacies that are able to do that. If they do that, and the volume is there, they'll be able to achieve numbers like that. I haven't figured out exactly what his 100 days is and when that exactly will be, but it feels like we may not have enough vaccine to do that, but the capacity is there to do it if we have the vaccine.

 Right. Do you think access to additional vaccine options such as Astrazeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Novavax may help President Biden achieve his intended goal of 100 million shots in that maybe 100-day period, or do you expect the benefit from these additional vaccines to potentially be seen later maybe coming into the summer?

 Well, I'm much more focused on meeting the patient needs rather than Biden's 100 days. I just haven't done the math around that, that's not that's not the most important element of this to me. It's about taking care of these patients and getting the vaccine to them, and it's certainly to the extent that more manufacturing more vaccine comes on the market.

Again, the best way to use that vaccine is to get it to pharmacies as that’s who patients rely on for flu shots. You look at the CDC data, that's where they get their flu shots—that and physicians’ offices. I know physicians’ offices are anxious to get the vaccine as well, but we see a lot more telemedicine now. Folks are not in a position to go to their doctor’s office as much, and we certainly don't discourage anybody from going to their physician’s office by any means, but what has been there throughout the pandemic and continues to be there is the capacity of community pharmacies to deliver this vaccine, and so to the extent that new manufacturers bring new volume, it definitely helps, there's no question about that.

Pharmacy Times® interviewed Kurt Proctor, PhD, RPh, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at the NCPA, on how the Biden administration’s launch of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program may affect the COVID-19 vaccination rollout.

How the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program May Affect the COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout

interviewed Kim White, MBA, vice president of Numerof & Associates, on how changes in business strategies in hospitals due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic may affect how hospital pharmacies conduct their business.

 So Kim, what are some of the ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced the health care industry to evolve the way it does business, and what affect does this have on pharmacy?

 Thank you for that question, Alana. When the pandemic started, many hospitals and health systems shut down most of their elective procedures. Ambulatory services and general patient visits were also canceled. Manufacturers’ representative visits were banned from on-site meetings, and so most hospitals were in marginal financial shape before the pandemic, and that made them increasingly sensitive to cost increases, especially those related to the purchase of new drugs and devices.

The cancellation of elective procedures made the financial situation that much tighter, resulting in more stringent clinical and economic criteria being applied to new and even some current purchases. So, the centralization in decision making required to deal with the pandemic is naturally spilling over into decisions about what products will be used across the system, and the result is fewer decision makers each with more impact on product sales.

During this period, hospitals also faced supply shortages, which had a direct impact on pharmacies. Hospital pharmacists were forced to spend more time managing product delays. The situation required that they ask new questions about products like where it is made and develop backup plans in case shortages occurred.

 Right, and why are pharmacists generally trained on products through conferences, and how are pharmaceutical companies adapting to this dilemma during the COVID-19 pandemic?

 Well, there's numerous ways in which pharmacists learn about products through trade journals, CE courses, or continuing education courses, and through networking and meeting with representatives at booths in education sessions at conferences.

Historically, conferences presented an opportunity to reach a lot of people at one time. However, when the pandemic hit, most conferences were either cancelled or moved to a virtual setting. Manufacturers have had to adapt their outreach and approach. Many still participated through virtual conference programs and some have even increased their spend in trade journals, while others have adapted their communications to online and other settings.

 Right, and how might the switch to virtual detailing affect pharmacies?

 Great question. Well virtual detailing may help pharmacists plan their schedule so interactions with manufacturing representatives occur at the most opportune time without distractions. It may allow for deeper discussion and understanding of a particular product or products. To the extent manufacturers develop reps on call or reps available through virtual means, this may also provide pharmacists with the ability to quickly access information they need, when they need it.

 What do leaders in pharmaceutical companies believe will be critical for success in a post-COVID world, and how might this affect pharmacies?

 In a post-COVID world, many manufacturers will adopt a hybrid model of detailing that includes both in-person as well as virtual visits. They'll also give a critical eye to how they target and segment the market to ensure they're calling on those individuals most likely to prescribe in a way, virtual or in-person, that works best for them. In some instances, we've already seen manufacturers reduce the size of their field forces.

When this happens, there could also be a reduction in local pharmacy visits as companies send their representatives to those accounts where they may get the most bang for the buck, if you will, and as this happens, pharmacists working in a retail setting will need to seek out information and rely on trade journals, manufacturer websites, and conferences to learn more about products.

 Right, and will any of these changes require new skills or capabilities among pharmacists?

 Pharmacists will still need the skills and capabilities they've always had. However, they may have to be more diligent in checking information sources to ensure they have the necessary facts and data to inform their patient or formulary recommendations.

 Right, right. Do you have any closing thoughts, Kim?

 The pandemic and the associated shutdown of elective procedures required may have changed the perspective of hospital executives and administration about the ongoing failure of fee for service as a payment model. Most hospitals get paid for each transaction with patients, so when the transactions stop, like what we saw with COVID, so does cash flow. If this experience encourages more hospitals to take on capitated payment models, in which they get predictable payments for each patient and are responsible for taking steps to keep those patients healthy and minimize health costs, we may see an increase in such programs. If that happens, hospitals may see a larger role for community pharmacists in the delivery of care at reduced cost.

 Right. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today, Kim. Now let’s hear from some of our other MJH Life Sciences brands on their latest headlines.

Pharmacy Times® interviewed Kim White, MBA, vice president of Numerof & Associates, on how changes in business strategies in hospitals due to the COVID-19 pandemic may affect how hospital pharmacies conduct their business.

The COVID-19 Pandemic May Change The Way Hospital Pharmacies Do Business

, Anthony Harris, MD, MBA, MPH, chief innovation officer and associate medical director at WorkCare, and Brittany Busse, MD, associate medical director at WorkCare, discussed the implications of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) variant first found in South Africa.

Harris said experts believe the variant has increased transmissibility and there may be increased risk of death as has been found in the United Kingdom variant. Still, Busse said they are optimistic that the current vaccines should provide some level of protection when combined with the body’s immune responses.

“So, if you’ve already ramped up those B cells and T cells ahead of time, we are seeing that [the body] is less likely to overreact, less likely to cause the cytokine storm that puts people in a hospital or kills them with severe COVID symptoms,” Busse explained. 

Despite concerns about increased transmissibility, experts are optimistic that the current vaccines will provide some level of protection when combined with the body's immune response.

Experts Discuss South African COVID-19 Variant and What It Could Mean for Vaccines, Reopening

interviewed Kurt Proctor, PhD, RPh, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at the National Community Pharmacy Association, on the Biden administration’s announcement of the initial launch of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination.

 So, Kurt, what is the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, and what does its announcement mean for community pharmacies?

 Thanks, Alana, I'm glad to be with you today. The Federal Retail Program is about making it easier for everybody by allocating directly to these partners that are affiliated with the pharmacies in their group—whether that be the independents and their [pharmacy services administrative organizations (PSAOs)] or the chains and their stores&mdash;to where they are, working with their pharmacies and placing orders for them, helping report data, helping coordinate activity with the states that they're involved with, and understanding what the priority populations are, etc. So, it's something we've been working on for a long time&mdash;back in the Trump administration&mdash;in terms of putting this federal program together. Now we're glad to see that it's being implemented here in the Biden administration.

 Right. Since the program is a public-private partnership with both national pharmacy partners and networks of independent pharmacies, how were pharmacies able to get involved in this program and can other pharmacies become a part of it?

 Right, so all those entities have gone out to the pharmacies that they have relationships with, and many pharmacies chose to sign up with them. Some pharmacies are just working directly with their state, which is a completely good option for many pharmacies, and there's nothing wrong with that at all. But others who joined one of the networks of independent pharmacies, and I believe that those networks will be able to take more people in in the weeks and months ahead as well, if pharmacies so choose to do that. I think they're pretty well grounded in the pharmacies that they have, and they're ready to meet the challenges of getting this vaccine out and reaching the vulnerable populations that are being prioritized, especially at this point.

Pharmacy Times® interviewed Kurt Proctor, PhD, RPh, senior vice president of strategic initiatives at the NCPA, on the Biden administration’s announcement of the launch of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 vaccination.

What the Launch of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program Means for COVID-19 Vaccinations at Community Pharmacies

interviewed Lee Rosebush, JD, PharmD, MS, MBA, partner at Baker & Hostetler, on an interactive state-by-state vaccination rollout guide his law firm created to help pharmacies and providers navigate the various state approaches to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination efforts.

 So Lee, what is the guide that Baker & Hostetler created, and how can it help pharmacists and pharmacies navigate state guidances around COVID-19 vaccination?

 Sure, thanks for having me. In essence, it's a free resource that we actually host on our website and it comes down to a breakdown of each of the state plans and what pharmacies and those in the pharmacy industry can look forward to as to an understanding of where things are heading with the vaccination program. One of the things that we often get is questions from pharmacies and pharmacists saying ‘What can we do, and what can't we do, and who's eligible to receive this,’ and we tried to break it down into an easy resource for those in the industry.

 Right, and where can pharmacists find this guide, and how can they expect to be able to use the information in practice?

 We actually have a website bakerlaw.com, and on that website we actually have a resource strictly for COVID-19, and underneath that we have a pharmacy reimbursement team that also has some pharmacy resources, things along the lines of reimbursement aspects, pharmacy doctrine, state law aspects, and one of those is this web page. Actually we tried to make it as interactive as possible for pharmacists who wanted to go in and click on their individual states, or for individuals who are licensed in multiple states from pharmacy to multiple states like myself. You actually could go in and click on different states to see where the plans have changed.

 Right. What are some of the ways that state guidance around COVID-19 vaccination can change state-by-state?

 It's interesting, it's one of the things that we're seeing rapidly change. Honestly, there's a couple of areas that we often point to and get questions to on the pharmacy program. Just being who's eligible, I mean honestly we've heard multiple times is it those who are elderly, is it those who are healthcare workers, or is it those who are teachers, and so one of the things that we often point to for those in the pharmacy industry is to take a look at the prioritization schedules. We often get the question, is it the Biden administration, is it HHS who controls that, and HHS and CDC really puts forward recommendations—it really is controlled by the state. So, to understand who's eligible and who's up next, you really do need to keep track of that plan.

The other thing that we often get too is who can actually give the vaccination. So there have been questions, for example, on in our industry, pharmacy interns, pharmacy clerks, those who have graduated but don't have laws on licenses yet, technicians, and we've tried to narrow it down just for a resource again for those in the pharmacy industry to say who can actually give the shot.

 Right, and what are some of the unique regulatory and compliance issues facing pharmacies under the emergency use authorization?

 The interesting thing is this is an authorization that means it's not FDA-approved. And let's be honest, COVID in the emergency authorization will likely be around for a while next year that doesn’t mean it's not FDA-approved if the emergency authorization goes away, that means it's no longer eligible to be given. And so, one of the things that we're monitoring is where's FDA on the actual quote-unquote approval of this because, hopefully, as things move forward, they actually obtain the FDA approval.

The other thing that's interesting for those in the pharmacy space is what does that mean for payment. Obviously, we've all dealt with things like [drug efficacy study implementation] drugs and compounding, and those that are unapproved, and this is technically unapproved. So, what does that mean: As we move forward, for those who are trying to get reimbursement for these shots.

And then the last obviously is the PR that goes around this. We've all heard of those who have traveled to other areas, or for lack of a better term, lied on the applications to get the vaccine to say that they're eligible when they're not, and there are obviously some PR ramifications, and some things along those lines that we need to be aware of as we move forward.

So again, we've tried to provide those types of resources on the website so individuals who, as they move forward, have some other areas of concerns they might be able to point to and things they need to keep in the back of their mind.

 How might these regulatory and compliance issues affect administration, costs, and record keeping?

 The big one is—you hit the nail on the head at the end&mdash;the record keeping. You know, one of our biggest concerns obviously in the pharmacy space is compliance. So there's a question of: Do we give it 2 weeks out, do we give it 3 weeks out, do we give it 4 weeks out. You have to keep track of who had Pfizer versus the Moderna vaccination, for example, and what that means as to moving forward. So, we have an awful lot of questions that we get on the pharmacy industry side of ‘What does this mean for record keeping, how do we report it, and when do we report it.’

Another thing that those in the pharmacy space really need to make sure they monitor is if you look at the CDC plan, the HHS plan, the discussion was around a 24- to a 72-hour time period as to when you have to report it. So, if I walk in to get the shot today, it's supposed to be reported within 3 days. Well not every state follows that, and if you've got a broad spectrum IT program that keeps track of all your reporting for you, is it honestly following the proper state plan that 24 hours or 48 hours as compared to the federal 72 hours? Again, areas that you need to keep into consideration.

Again, I'm not pointing fingers at any specific state, but I'll give you a perfect example: If you look at Governor Cuomo's early statements in the state of New York, there was a threat of potentially jail time if you actually administered a vaccine to those who were ineligible, and if you didn't follow the plan on the reporting program, you wouldn't receive additional vaccine moving forward. They would, in other words, cut how much you received. So, these are real life concerns, especially for those who are wanting to move forward to want to administer, to make sure it's done to the right individuals, and that you are properly reporting as required.

 Right. Is there anything else pharmacies should consider as they prepare for or continue to provide COVID-19 vaccinations?

 It's a big one. Obviously, as we move forward, independent pharmacies, I think, have a great opportunity here to be able to show their need and the ability that they can respond in these types of emergencies. A great example—we just talked about New York&mdash;is West Virginia. In this situation, if you look at what the governor of West Virginia has stated in the ability to vaccinate basically every resident in a long-term care facility using independent pharmacies, it shows higher need for any ability for those in the pharmacies to move forward, and the access they can have, and the impact they can have. So, as we as a pharmacy industry move forward in this, I think it's really, really important that we continue to show just how much of an impact we can have for this pandemic.

 Right, right. Do you have any closing thoughts?

 I would applaud all of our health care workers. Obviously, it's been a hectic last year, a hard last year, and they continuously push of masks, push for vaccines, and they continuously emphasize treating this, as it is as a pandemic. We as a pharmacy industry have come a long way, and I would continue to applaud those who continue to push forward in this industry.

 Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today, Lee. Now let’s hear from some of our other MJH Life Sciences brands on their latest headlines.

Pharmacy Times® interviewed Lee Rosebush, JD, PharmD, MS, MBA, partner at Baker & Hostetler, on an interactive state-by-state vaccination rollout guide his law firm created to help pharmacies navigate the various state approaches to COVID-19 vaccination efforts.

State-by-state COVID-19 Vaccination Rollout Guide Helps Pharmacies Navigate States’ Vaccination Efforts

interviewed Alex Hontos, JD, partner at Dorsey & Whitney, on the executive order President Biden signed directing agencies to utilize the Defense Production Act (DPA), among other tools, to prioritize production of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines and material.

During the discussion, Hontos explained what the DPA is, why President Biden enacting the DPA is significant, and what enacting the DPA means in terms of President Biden’s ability to organize the pandemic response.

Hontos noted that, first and foremost, the invocation of the DPA was a signal by President Biden to the country and the government regarding his administration’s intentions in addressing the pandemic.

“It's a signal that this administration is willing to pick up some of the tools that Congress has pre-authorized. If you contrast this to about a year ago under the Trump administration, there was what seemed to be a reluctance, certainly at least initially, by the Trump administration to use the Defense Production Act and its authority under the Defense Production Act,” Hontos said.

In this way, the executive order signed on January 21 by President Biden suggests that there will be no reluctance to use the DPA in order to organize the administration’s pandemic response, Hontos explained.

“The president has basically told the agencies in his very first days in office to use the act where necessary. The executive order signed on the 21st also directs the agencies to basically make an assessment of where there's a gap between forecasted need for COVID-related items, and the industrial capacity to meet that need. Where that gap has been identified, the president has directed agencies to consider using, to the maximum extent practicable, authorities available under the Defense Production Act,” Hontos said.

Hontos noted that the DPA is a very broad authorization, making it difficult to predict exactly how it may get used by the administration going forward.

“[The DPA] stretches from things like the direct procurement of goods and services by the government—the government being able to just go out and buy things&mdash;all the way to somewhat more nuanced and maybe innovative approaches to building the defense industrial base and the domestic industrial base to respond to emergencies. So, things like loans, loan guarantees, things like the ability for the government to prioritize its orders over private sector orders,” Hontos said.

The discussion also included the scope of the DPA, who has the authority to implement the DPA powers, which industries are covered by the DPA, when the DPA will terminate, and whether the DPA can provide any protections for private-sector partners, such as pharmacies that are administering COVID-19 vaccines or COVID-19 testing.

Pharmacy Times® interviewed Alex Hontos, JD, partner at Dorsey & Whitney, on the executive order President Biden signed directing agencies to utilize the Defense Production Act, among other tools, to prioritize production of COVID-19 vaccines and material.

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