A pharmacist should deal with medications, not swabs

The President of the District Pharmacy Council in Warsaw stated that "combined tests for COVID-19, influenza and RSV are a classic example of the possibility of using the potential of pharmacists employed in pharmacies, the implementation of this service in the pharmacy will relieve the health care system and enable primary care physicians to focus only on treating patients with confirmed infection.”

COMBO Test Influenza A/B + COVID-19 + RSV is an immunochromatographic test for self-testing - for home use.

The Fluorecare antigen test is a combo set of SARS-CoV-2 + influenza A/B + RSV antigens. This self-test is certified by the European Union for home use and is intended for self-testing.

In addition to the above-mentioned tests, you can buy, for example, a urine container and a stool container in a pharmacy, which does not mean that they can be used in a pharmacy, but you should do it at home.

It was a big mistake to introduce testing into pharmacies because pharmacists, as a rule, should deal with drugs, not swabs. Pharmacies cannot become swabs at the expense of their core business. COVID-19 testing in pharmacies is more than a fiasco - it's a disaster. In addition, the Minister of Health mocked pharmacists because free tests in pharmacies could be performed for only two months.

The swab being taken is potentially infectious biological material. Occupational exposure is the exposure of an employee to the impact of factors that are dangerous and harmful to health during the performance of professional duties. The Supreme Pharmacy Council should take actions that reduce, not increase, the exposure of pharmacists to epidemic threats, because pharmacists, as part of their competences and core business, must guarantee drug safety to the public.

In Poland, approximately 300 million prescriptions are issued annually. It is known that about 25% of visits are so-called prescription visits to prescribe prescriptions for drugs used in chronic diseases, i.e. about 75 million prescriptions. That's how many prescriptions pharmacists could write and that would be a real relief to the health care system. Prescribing follow-up orders should be a priority, not swabs or "nose-picking".