Vaccinations at Pharmacies, particularly Tetanus

[TorontoBuilder]

Did you know, that according to the Canadian Pharmacist's Association Pharmacists can administer the Td vaccine aka the Tetanus/Diphtheria vaccine.

But you wont find a Pharmacist who actually does administer this vaccine because of the "lack of profitability" of administering a vaccine that is done at low volumes despite primarily being administered to adults on an emergency basis. I mean when is it a more urgent need where access thru Pharmacists makes sense?

If a patient goes to a walk-in clinic to have this vaccine, because their Drs office is closed for the weekend they can risk being derostered by their family Dr. So that leaves attending the ER for emergency vaccine, which means expect a near 24 hr wait in an ER exposed to a cesspool of killer germs to get a simple injection.

Faced with that prospect one is left to ponder the risks, like yeah that screw was rusty and on the ground covered in soil, but the puncture couldn't have been more than 3/8" deep. I'm sure that lone study that says that humans don't need a booster every ten years is accurate, right.

The point? Just a friendly reminder that, as metal workers, if you cannot remember when you had your last Tetanus vaccination and don't have your vaccination record then it is far better to get a scheduled booster during your next visit to your GP than to need to visit the ER for one.

p.s. greedy pharmacists, I'll no longer use you for any vaccine

 

[Doggggboy]

If a patient goes to a walk-in clinic to have this vaccine, because their Drs office is closed for the weekend they can risk being derostered by their family Dr

Do you mean your regular Dr. drops you as a client?

But you wont find a Pharmacist who actually does administer this vaccine because of the "lack of profitability" of administering a vaccine that is done at low volumes despite primarily being administered to adults on an emergency basis. I mean when is it a more urgent need where access thru Pharmacists makes sense?

I had a tetanus shot subsequent to a dog bite at a walk-in clinic 25 years ago, not sure what the wait time is these days.
We've always had our travel vaccinations done at the Sask Health travel clinic. Vaccinations available depended on your destinations.
Any vaccine given from a multi-dose vial was scheduled to be concurrent with other people getting the same vaccine so as to meet the guidelines for storage time. Yellow fever was a 2 or 3 week wait. Rabies was about the same I think. Tetanus was same day.
This was when we actually had a working healthcare system though.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Do you mean your regular Dr. drops you as a client?

I had a tetanus shot subsequent to a dog bite at a walk-in clinic 25 years ago, not sure what the wait time is these days.
We've always had our travel vaccinations done at the Sask Health travel clinic. Vaccinations available depended on your destinations.
Any vaccine given from a multi-dose vial was scheduled to be concurrent with other people getting the same vaccine so as to meet the guidelines for storage time. Yellow fever was a 2 or 3 week wait. Rabies was about the same I think. Tetanus was same day.
This was when we actually had a working healthcare system though.

Yes, in Ontario if you have a GP and go to a walk-in clinic for any reason the Govt charges back your GP for the visit. Why you ask, because your GP likely bills the govt by patient a set amount no matter how often you go to the Dr in a year. If they have a chronic patient they likely opt for different billing method.

But in my case I dont soak up services for my Dr benefits from a higher profit margin because I basically dont go see them unless I'm desperate. So they hate getting back-charged by Doug Ford. If this happens they retaliate and drop such patients. However, what is a patient to do when you GP is only open 5 days a week and you need a clinic visit on weekend?

I found out that Ontario just didn't cover tetanus shots via pharmacists but they intend to soon. How inconvenient and stupid of me to puncture my foot before DoFo decided he'd pay the fee thru alternate healthcare providers.

I remember when the guy tried to stop paying for general anesthetic for people undergoing colonoscopies...

 

[Martin w]

I went to the walk in clinic a few weeks ago for 5 stitches. I got a call 2 weeks later from my doctors office. I guess they get back charged. I had no idea!

 

[jcdammeyer]

Did you know, that according to the Canadian Pharmacist's Association Pharmacists can administer the Td vaccine aka the Tetanus/Diphtheria vaccine.

But you wont find a Pharmacist who actually does administer this vaccine because of the "lack of profitability" of administering a vaccine that is done at low volumes despite primarily being administered to adults on an emergency basis. I mean when is it a more urgent need where access thru Pharmacists makes sense?

If a patient goes to a walk-in clinic to have this vaccine, because their Drs office is closed for the weekend they can risk being derostered by their family Dr. So that leaves attending the ER for emergency vaccine, which means expect a near 24 hr wait in an ER exposed to a cesspool of killer germs to get a simple injection.

Faced with that prospect one is left to ponder the risks, like yeah that screw was rusty and on the ground covered in soil, but the puncture couldn't have been more than 3/8" deep. I'm sure that lone study that says that humans don't need a booster every ten years is accurate, right.

My Pharmacist does house calls.

 

[Doggggboy]

My Pharmacist does house calls.

Would that be Mrs Project 42?

 

[Stuart Samuel]

I hadn’t heard of this de-rostering stuff until a piece in the Globe early this past week. From that piece, if your doctor is part of either a ‘family health organization (FHO) or ‘family health network (FHN)’, they bill OHIP based on their patient list, I expect with up charges for specific services. Because the government is already paying for your healthcare, and they (pretty reasonably) don’t want to pay twice, when you go to a walk-in, they claw back some of the money paid to the FHO/FHN.

I should look up whether a ‘Family Health Team’ is any different. My doctor, part of a FHT, is in the east end of Toronto (where I grew up), so going for an appointment is almost always a half day off work.

 

[jcdammeyer]

Would that be Mrs Project 42?

Yes.

Actually a few days before we left for the UK on our first holiday in 8 years her boss phoned her and told her that although the new COVID wasn't supposed to be released to the public until the 15th (we left on the 8th) that they had just arrived at the Pharmacy along with this years Flu Shots.
We were in the car 5 minutes later. Linda stabbed me twice and then her boss stabbed her twice. She had a much worse reaction to the COVID for a couple of days. OTOH, I was fine until we got to the UK and then had a bad cold for the first 3 days. After that fine.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

I hadn’t heard of this de-rostering stuff until a piece in the Globe early this past week. From that piece, if your doctor is part of either a ‘family health organization (FHO) or ‘family health network (FHN)’, they bill OHIP based on their patient list, I expect with up charges for specific services. Because the government is already paying for your healthcare, and they (pretty reasonably) don’t want to pay twice, when you go to a walk-in, they claw back some of the money paid to the FHO/FHN.

I should look up whether a ‘Family Health Team’ is any different. My doctor, part of a FHT, is in the east end of Toronto (where I grew up), so going for an appointment is almost always a half day off work.

basically, any doctor's offices with team of drs operate this way, they have to in order to reduce costs. Interestingly, I had to leave my sole practitioner GP because I could never get into his office with his super limited hours.

Now I have Dr as part of a network, and their focus has shifted to medispa bs...

 

[Stuart Samuel]

Yes.

Actually a few days before we left for the UK on our first holiday in 8 years her boss phoned her and told her that although the new COVID wasn't supposed to be released to the public until the 15th (we left on the 8th) that they had just arrived at the Pharmacy along with this years Flu Shots.
We were in the car 5 minutes later. Linda stabbed me twice and then her boss stabbed her twice. She had a much worse reaction to the COVID for a couple of days. OTOH, I was fine until we got to the UK and then had a bad cold for the first 3 days. After that fine.

Handy, isn’t it?

Just before a trip to rural Uganda in 2011, the doctor at the clinic I was going to be volunteering with told me I had to have a meningitis shot. Two days notice.

My girlfriend called around, and found a clinic that had them. She convinced them to stab her with one, and give her the other. My Mother (NP) stabbed me in the backyard while we grilled burgers.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Yes.

Actually a few days before we left for the UK on our first holiday in 8 years her boss phoned her and told her that although the new COVID wasn't supposed to be released to the public until the 15th (we left on the 8th) that they had just arrived at the Pharmacy along with this years Flu Shots.
We were in the car 5 minutes later. Linda stabbed me twice and then her boss stabbed her twice. She had a much worse reaction to the COVID for a couple of days. OTOH, I was fine until we got to the UK and then had a bad cold for the first 3 days. After that fine.

Sadly there are not enough Pharmacists to go around... because this seems like the only way to roll

 

[skippyelwell]

I had to leave my sole practitioner GP because I could never get into his office with his super limited hours.

I have one of those doctors too, in the health care world they are known as hobby docs.
But considering there are 2.5 million Ontarians without a Doc I shouldn't complain.

 

[Susquatch]

But considering there are 2.5 million Ontarians without a Doc I shouldn't complain.

I agree. It took me 10 years to find one and even then it was only by a stroke of luck. A new doctor in town advertised in the local paper for new patients opening at 9am on a Monday. The lineup was around the block. I waited until someone came out and said they were full, then left full of despair. A week, later, I was at the dentist and complained about the situation. My dentist smiled and told me that his hygienist would like to hear my story. Turns out she was the new doctors wife. Next day I got a call and now I finally have a new doctor. I'll never complain about doctors. I'm blessed to actually have one now. He is a darn good doctor too.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

I agree. It took me 10 years to find one and even then it was only by a stroke of luck. A new doctor in town advertised in the local paper for new patients opening at 9am on a Monday. The lineup was around the block. I waited until someone came out and said they were full, then left full of despair. A week, later, I was at the dentist and complained about the situation. My dentist smiled and told me that his hygienist would like to hear my story. Turns out she was the new doctors wife. Next day I got a call and now I finally have a new doctor. I'll never complain about doctors. I'm blessed to actually have one now. He is a darn good doctor too.

You should hear this story about the disparity of treatment of two nonagenarian heart failure patients... one in Ontario and the other in PEI.

In both cases in is a good thing that the patient's family knows me and had my intervention but still one patient still living a healthcare horror story. They choose to live in a healthcare desert tho

 

[JustaDB]

He is a darn good doctor too.

Small hands?

 

[Tom O]

I have been going to the same Clinic Doctor since the early 90’s if he moves I follow and have always had great care, it’s the Doctor I trust and don’t care that we aren’t formally referred to as my family Doctor.
I had Tetanus once in the mid 80’s in (Sooke) Victoria renovating a house with fire damage in the wintertime, using the fireplace for heat I stomped on a board that flipped up hitting me with a nail in my thigh. No big deal right? Well a couple hours later I was pulling myself around on the floor nailing off a subfloor waiting for the boss to come back at noon ( Cell phones were just coming out ) it was fairly painful feeling more like a cramp when you laugh about it.
So make sure your up to date.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

I went to the walkin clinic in the hospital. Said they open at 1pm. I got there about 12:15 and they line was at the point the clinic was at capacity for the day already.

The intake worker there told me to go to the ER. So I should go to the ER for a simple injection. How sad.

Obviously I am not going to burden the ER with my presence for 12 to 18 hours.

So one last shot at getting a shot tomorrow before it is totally not worth bothering

 

[jcdammeyer]

Doesn't Ontario allow Pharmacists to do injections? Here in BC they do most of them. Getting Hep A/B next week in prep for a trip to Mexico.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Doesn't Ontario allow Pharmacists to do injections? Here in BC they do most of them. Getting Hep A/B next week in prep for a trip to Mexico.

They don't do the TD vaccine yet. Not even for pay.

If I get tetanus the costs to healthcare system will be huge. That will teach em for sucking at the simple little things

 

[Susquatch]

If I get tetanus the costs to healthcare system will be huge. That will teach em for sucking at the simple little things

Sounds like you need a drive down my way, step on a nice clean steralized nail, and go to any of the country hospitals for a tetanus shot. In and out in an hour unless there is a car accident someplace nearby.