Expert: COVID-19 Vaccinations Have ‘Elevated the Exposure of Clinical Pharmacists’

Pharmacy Times® interviewed Nasir Iqbal, PharmD, Rphl, the director of pharmacy at NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, to discuss the coordination of COVID-19 vaccinations at the Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx.

During the discussion, Iqbal detailed the coordination of COVID-19 vaccinations at the Lincoln Medical Center hospital since COVID-19 vaccines became available at the end of last year.

“New York City Health + Hospitals as a system was preparing for COVID-19 vaccination since before the emergency use authorizations. While tracking the Pfizer and Moderna trials very closely for their road to approvals, New York City Health + Hospitals was ensuring that each facility had the necessary equipment for storage and space to administer vaccines,” Iqbal said.

Iqbal also noted that New York City Health + Hospitals made sure to work closely with city and state officials, especially around issues relating to eligibility.

“For the eligibility piece, we needed to ensure that we were expanding our appointments appropriately,” Iqbal said. “Also, we worked as one hospital as a part of a system of 11 hospitals, ensuring supply and demand was balanced, especially in the early days of vaccine supply in the wintertime.”

Iqbal also discussed how the coordination of vaccinations has changed over the past few months at Lincoln Medical Center, the potential future trajectory for COVID-19 vaccinations at his hospital, the value of the pharmacist during COVID-19 vaccinations at his hospital, and Iqbal’s hopes for the future of pharmacy after the struggles of the past year.