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The role of pharmacy technicians in immunizations has evolved rapidly, particularly over the past 2 years because of COVID-19. Prior to the pandemic, pharmacy technicians for the most part were limited to assisting pharmacists in basic tasks related to immunizations. These included screening patients, preparing for the immunization, and performing administrative tasks required for immunization programs...In 2016, Idaho led the way in expanding the role of pharmacy technicians to include administering immunizations...the results were clear: All pharmacy technicians taking part in the study passed their assessments on the first attempt...The momentum for pharmacy technician-administered immunizations continued in Michigan, Washington state, Rhode Island, Utah, and Nevada...READ MORE

Jose Maria Fernandez Sousa-Faro, president of European pharmaceuticals giant PharmaMar, has been charged by police with being falsely vaccinated against Covid-19. Dr. Sousa-Faro has been caught up in a scandal in Europe involving people being added to the National Immunization Registry in exchange for large sums of money...Police allege that Sousa-Faro arranged to be injected with a saline solution instead of a Covid-19 vaccination and paid thousands of dollars to have his name added to Spain's immunization register, as confirmed by police sources and reported by El Periodico de Espana...READ MORE

With Nevada hospitals reporting a staffing “crisis” and health officials reporting COVID-19 patient tallies at pandemic highs, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak highlighted a program...to enlist nursing students to help meet the demand for medical providers...“The state continues to work with all of our partners to leverage existing resources and break down barriers so Nevadans in need can access care,” the governor...said on a day that health officials reported what Dr. John Hess, a University of Nevada School of Medicine associate faculty member, called a “challenging time” with case counts “incredibly high right now.”...READ MORE

A booster shot of Moderna's authorized coronavirus vaccine significantly increases antibody levels against the omicron variant, according to the results of laboratory tests the company disclosed... The update comes days after another analysis indicated the initial two-shot regimen is less effective at neutralizing omicron than other variants like delta...As a result of the booster's apparent cross-protection against multiple variants, Moderna said it will focus its efforts away from a more complex "multivalent" shot and toward further study of its existing booster dose formulation. The biotech said it will still develop an omicron-specific booster, however, and aims to begin clinical testing of that in early 2022...READMORE

The White House announced the launch of the first federally supported test-to-treat site, a part of the White House test-to-treat initiative designed to improve access to COVID-19 antiviral oral medications for certain high-risk patients. In response, ASHP sent a letter to Ashish Jha, the White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator, requesting the administration dramatically expand access to COVID-19 antivirals in all communities by removing the federal barrier preventing pharmacists from initiating therapy with these time-sensitive medications...READ MORE

The city of Las Vegas contracted with Northshore Clinical Labs to provide limited COVID-19 testing early this year, a city representative said this week...“This was when demand for testing was at its highest levels, and the city was trying to help meet that demand,” city representative Jace Radke said in an email. “The city has not entered into any other contracts with Northshore Clinical Labs, and is no longer affiliated with the company.”...Northshore was the target of a ProPublica investigation that revealed...the lab’s tests frequently gave inaccurate results. A test by the Nevada State Public Health Laboratory found a false-negative rate of 96 percent, meaning that Northshore’s test had missed nearly all positive cases in the sampling...READ MORE

Hospitals throughout Nevada are facing twin challenges as beds fill with COVID-19 patients and staff falls ill from the highly contagious omicron variant...“Nevada is experiencing an abrupt increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations, predominantly in the southern region following the holidays. People are flocking to hospital emergency departments seeking COVID-19 testing, compounding the staffing problem,” they said, describing the second week of January...“Hospitals are not over-run by a COVID-19 surge as much as being understaffed as employees in all fields report being sick and unable to work. This is also further compounded by a significant increase in people coming to the emergency department solely for testing. Hospitals are not testing sites,” the Nevada Hospital Association said...READ MORE

Federal authorities are expanding an investigation into Chicago-based Northshore Clinical Labs following a ProPublica story that raised questions about its COVID-19 testing operations in Nevada...an investigator with the Inspector General’s Office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services indicated he planned to subpoena documents from Nevada health officials...“Myself and other law enforcement agencies have had a case opened regarding Northshore Clinical Lab for quite some time,” wrote Special Agent Peter Theiler, who is based in Chicago. “After reading the ProPublica article on Northshore Clinical Lab regarding Nevada patients, we are interested in obtaining records related to testing for COVID-19 for Northshore Clinical Lab rapid test results and PCR test results for Nevada.”...READ MORE

No one who provides a service does it for free. Professionals administer these services, and payment is expected...Have you heard about the uninsured person who walked into the pharmacy to get their second or third or fourth COVID-19 shot? The billing mechanism for these patients—the Health Resources and Services Administration—is now out of money, and yet we, the pharmacists, are expected to take care of these patients...According to the CDC website,“[The] COVID-19 vaccine is free of charge for everyone. Participating pharmacies will bill private and public insurance for the vaccine administration fee. For uninsured patients, this fee will be reimbursed through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Provider Relief Fund.”...At least half the patients who come into the pharmacy will ask why we need their insurance card. “These shots are supposed to be free,” they say. I explain to them that it takes at least 15 minutes of our time to administer a shot, and even though the vaccine is “free”—and even the alcohol pads and syringes are “free”—there is still a cost...READ MORE

Paxlovid and molnupiravir are the first oral treatments for COVID-19, potentially valuable new tools as the fast-spreading omicron variant fuels a sharp surge in cases across the U.S...The Food and Drug Administration...authorized the first pill for COVID-19, clearing for emergency use an antiviral treatment from Pfizer at a precarious moment in the two-year-old pandemic. One day later...the agency cleared a second pill developed by Merck & Co...READ MORE