Please visit the CDC website for information on when you will be eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. As the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps over the country from coast to coast, the recent news from Pfizer and Moderna of a successful vaccine candidate is the good news we’ve all been waiting to hear. When the pharmaceutical companies get final FDA approval, they will face two enormous challenges: one, making millions of doses available for timely administration; and two, keeping those doses cold and potent during transportation, storage, and handling. Like all vaccines, new COVID-19 vaccines will be temperature and time sensitive. They will require massive adjustments to cold chain and storage cooler capacity. Why? Because the current inventory of all existing vaccines …
Posts about Pharmacy (3)
In the weeks following the first known cases of COVID-19 infection in the U.S., the federal government, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has been severely criticized for its slow and insufficient response to developing and deploying test kits. On March 17, the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, sent a letter to the U.S. Congressional leadership. His message demanded provider status for pharmacists to empower them to deliver patient testing and services related to COVID-19. “As Congress and the Administration consider new policies and initiatives to combat the threat of COVID-19, I am writing to urge you to take steps immediately to further optimize the critical …
October is American Pharmacists Month! In honor of all those who provide life-saving therapeutics to ensure the public health, we’re posting a 3-part series profiling heroes who made history with their enormous contributions to the pharmaceutical industry. In this post, we celebrate Felix Hoffman, the German chemist who famously synthesized aspirin, one of the most widely beneficial drugs ever produced. Hoffman Joins the Bayer Company Felix Hoffmann (21 January 1868 – 8 February 1946) was born in Germany. The son of a manufacturer, at a young age he was introduced to the science of chemical processes in his family’s factories, which led to his interest in pharmaceuticals. Felix Hoffman. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Hoffmann Hoffman set out to learn his trade by working in …
October is American Pharmacists Month! In honor of all those who provide life-saving therapeutics to ensure the public health, we’re posting a 3-part series profiling heroes who made history with their enormous contributions to the pharmaceutical industry. We begin with Henry Banting, a Canadian medical scientist, physician, and Nobel laureate who developed the extraction of insulin into a practical treatment for diabetes, marking one of the biggest medical discoveries of the 20th century. The Problem of the Pancreas Sir Frederick Banting (November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941) received his M.D. from the University of Toronto in 1921. Once he began practicing medicine, he became fascinated about diabetes. While preparing for a lecture on the pancreas, he thoroughly reviewed all previous …
Of all best practices for the storage and handling of pharmaceuticals, perhaps none is more crucial than temperature monitoring. As complex chemical and biological products, medications can easily be rendered impotent – even toxic – when subject to excursions outside of their prescribed temperature range. Even the simplest products are rarely unaffected by extremes of heat or cold. The safety of some pharmaceuticals in particular is at risk if exposed to improper temperature variations. For instance, overheated products promote the growth of pathogens, while freezing reduces the efficacy of medications containing proteins. Public health can be endangered if medications lose their strength, especially vaccines, which leave people exposed to life-threatening infectious diseases. …
If you had to nominate only one federal agency that most effectively protects America’s wellbeing, few would argue with choosing the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC). Whether diseases start in the U.S. or overseas, the CDC’s “24/7 mission” is to fight them with critical science, provide information to citizens, and thereby safeguard communities against dangerous health threats. The CDC envisions its overall mission as: Taking the health pulse of the U.S. Detecting and responding to emerging health threats Tackling the biggest health problems causing death and disability Putting science and advanced technology into action to prevent disease Promoting healthy and safe behaviors, communities, and environments Developing leaders and training the public health workforce We’ve …