An Inside Look at the NCPA + CPESN Role in Covid-19 Vaccination

Even if every individual community pharmacy knows they are capable of administering the Covid-19 vaccine, this fact gets drowned out without the power of a collective voice. Independent pharmacies have substantial value to bring to the table, but in order to make this known at the federal level and be able to compete with national chains, there has to be a way for all these individual pharmacies to join forces.

“If I was at my own pharmacy, I couldn’t just go to the CDC and say I want the vaccine. You have to have an agreement with somebody, either a state or federal pharmacy partner,” explains Cody Clifton who, in addition to his role at CPESN, is a practicing pharmacist and PioneerRx pharmacy software user. Pharmacy networks and organizations such as the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) and the Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network (CPESN) advocate on behalf of independent pharmacies and provide them with the tools and resources they need to be successful. Specifically with the Covid-19 vaccine, NCPA and CPESN have been integral in activating independent pharmacies and educating government officials on their unique strengths and capabilities.

For NCPA, an early step in this process was building a database of immunization contacts to share with the CDC in order to make it easier for them to call on independent pharmacies within their state. “As the vaccine became imminent, it was clear to us that the immunization managers at the state health departments, the CMS and the CDC needed a way to engage independent pharmacies collectively, not just one by one. We needed to make it easier to do business with independent pharmacies,” says Kurt Proctor. They also explained ways that independents function differently – such as the fact that they are not owned by their PSAOs, creating a need for different contracts than the chains have.

State health departments across the country have had varying levels of experience working with community pharmacies, so NCPA and CPESN have been working to fill the gaps and make sure everyone is familiar with how independent pharmacies function. There were some states that already had experience with their local pharmacies and knew how they could help, so they utilized them early on. One example of this is West Virginia achieving high vaccination rates after deciding to partner with local pharmacies instead of chains.

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