Some 3 million rapid tests are being distributed to Quebec pharmacies

The three million rapid tests promised by Ottawa arrived early Monday morning at distribution centres across Quebec. Most of them were expected to be delivered to pharmacies on Tuesday, with some on Wednesday.

It is important to understand, however, that it doesn't mean three million Quebecers will be able to obtain a test, but instead 600,000, since there are five tests per box.

"The game plan is being respected. These three million tests, which represent 600,000 kits of five rapid tests, are in addition to what has already been distributed," explained Hugues Mousseau, director general of the Quebec Association of Pharmacy Distributors, in an interview with The Canadian Press.

"We know, of course, and this is the message we keep getting, that these are welcome quantities, but not enough to meet the demand. We are all well aware of this."

However, Tuesday morning, Josée Lussier, a pharmacist and owner in Varennes, a town in the Montérégie, was still in the dark.

"I have no sound, no image from my franchisor. They haven't written me anything. Usually they send me an email the day before to tell me that I'm going to receive a case and I didn't receive anything yesterday [Monday] or today [Tuesday]," she told The Canadian Press.

SEVERAL ARRIVALS LAND ON SCHEDULE

However, Mousseau is adamant that all the tests will be distributed by Wednesday.

"The objective of the Ministry of Health, and our objective, is really that the rapid kits can follow the population curve or the socio-demographic characteristics of each region," he said.

Benoit Morin, president of the Association québécoise des pharmaciens propriétaires, said he was pleased with the arrival of the kits, although he said he knows that they will not come close to meeting the demand.

"The real good news is that there will be a steady supply for the next few weeks. Beyond the three million tests that are going to be delivered this week, we expect another three million the week after and the week after that," he said.

"We expect to be able to meet the demand within a few weeks, or at least for it to stabilize and the pressure to be less."

INCREASED PRESSURE AND WORKLOAD

"The pressure is quite extreme," said Lussier. "The first week we offered 100 appointments on the web. It took one minute and 10 seconds and all the appointments were taken by people who came from Terrebonne, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, everywhere."

The pharmacist said it was necessary "to open files for each client who was not already in our files in order to submit the tests, because the transactions go through [Quebec public health insurance]."

It will come as no surprise, she said, that the Varennes pharmacy has decided to "put a little less on the line and give some to our clients here, to try to favour people who are immunosuppressed, for example."

"A lot is being asked of pharmacists," said Bernard Bolduc, president of the Ordre des pharmaciens du Québec.

"They are being asked to extend prescriptions; they are being asked to do more clinical activities since January 2021, with Bill 31; they are being asked to treat minor conditions, to start treatments for suspected zonas," he said.

""We are in an 'extra-crisis.'"

However, he immediately added that pharmacists aren't the only ones.

"We are missing a lot of nurses, a lot of doctors, we are asking a lot from the population too," he said.

"Pharmacists are doing their part and will have to do more when the drugs for COVID come out in a few weeks."

Morin agreed, saying that "we are in a crisis, and when we are in a crisis, everyone has to do their part. Pharmacists are doing their utmost within their means because we are also affected by outbreaks."

He explained that pharmacists, like everyone else, are affected by significant staffing shortages.

"Before the fifth wave, we were about 10 per cent short. We're missing pharmacists, but mostly we're missing pharmacy technicians and clerks," he said.

"Now, with the fifth-wave outbreaks, almost every pharmacy in Quebec is affected. But we're holding our own. I don't have anyone on break right now and I don't want to sound like I'm complaining -- people in hospitals have been going through this for two years."

He concluded that "we have to get through the tunnel, but there is a light at the end of it, which is to have a sustained supply and that will be part of our workflows eventually and it will be much easier for us."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 11, 2022