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Institutional Readiness for Management of AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine in Trusts

Mark Cheeseman, Professional Lead for Medicines Information, Midlands & East, Midlands and East Medicines Advice Service (East Anglia site)Published Last updated See all updates
Topics: AstraZeneca Vaccine: Handling in TrustsDisposalFridge and freezer use · PreparingService advice ·

Must read guidance for Chief Pharmacists and others in Trusts on the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Purpose

The attachment below outlines the medicines management responsibilities of Chief Pharmacists for Mass Vaccination in Hub and Non-Hub Trust sites, and provides supporting guidance and resources in relation to:

  • Safe storage and distribution, including temperature controlled storage, stock control and reporting vaccine usage to PHE
  • Oversight of vaccine handling and preparation

The document aims to promote consistency of practice by providing flow diagrams outlining a stepwise approach to implementing Pharmacy processes to receive, store and issue vaccines, and to oversee vaccine handling processes by clinical staff.

More resources

We also host a range of other resources to enable safe handling of this vaccine in Trusts.

Attachments

Change history

  1. Amended link for to best practice for storing COVID-19 vaccines in the refrigerator

  2. Minor amendment to wording linking to V1 IT Policy and removal of 'agent to be confirmed' for antiviral disinfectant.

  3. Quantity of vials in each carton corrected. Page numbers amended.

  4. Included hyperlink to ‘Deployment of COVID-19 Vaccine Oxford/AstraZeneca: implications for governance, handling and preparation of vaccines’ letter

  5. Published