Green pass ride: more personal drive-ins and extended hours. A surge in requests and pharmacies sold out until the end of the year
TREVISO. Pharmacies clogged up due to the huge demand for tampons to get the Green pass which lasts 48 hours, without needing to be vaccinated. The most striking case in Conegliano, where until the end of the year there is no more room to take the test. “The five pharmacies in the area are overloaded with reservations, they no longer have sessions available for tampons between now and December” confirms the president of the Order of Pharmacists of the Marca, Giuseppe Losego.
Even in the rest of the province the situation is complicated, so much so that Ulss 2 is working on a maxi plan to double the screening in its buffer points.
“Currently between us and the pharmacies we carry out 5,100 swabs a day, we have to bring them to 11,000, adding 6,000 in our screening points” announces the director general of Ulss Francesco Benazzi. In order to succeed in the enterprise, personnel are sought, together with the Region the operating procedures will be defined shortly. “On Tuesday we plan to start with the upgrade,” promises the CEO.
BOOM IN DEMANDS IN THE PHARMACY
A few days after the entry into force of the mandatory Green pass for all workers, the 150 green crosses that carry out the tests are overwhelmed by requests and with a double difficulty: physically finding a sufficient number of kits, but also finding the staff to strengthen the screening rounds.
“We are mainly welcoming teachers, other public sector workers, but also employees of private companies, who often have an agreement with a trusted pharmacy to swab even 40 unvaccinated workers who in turn have to be tamponed several times a week” continues the Dr. Losego.
THE COMPLAINT
The funnel that has been created will not hold up for long, despite the efforts made by the category to satisfy all customers who ask for the Green pass. “It is unlikely that this will be sustainable for long, the only way out is to speed up vaccines. We will be willing to grit our teeth until December, but in January vaccination coverage must reach 92%, otherwise the country will be blocked.
In perspective, many pharmacies will be forced to interrupt the tampon service because it is cumbersome and uneconomical ”adds the number one of the Pharmacists’ Association. A forecast that allows a glimpse of black clouds on the horizon even if some positive signals come from the health company: from the beginning of the pandemic to today 816,890 swabs have been administered, of which 1,597 in the last day with a low rate of positivity (1.74%) .
Parameter that bodes well, as well as the progress of the vaccination campaign with 608,492 Treviso people who have completed the cycle of prophylaxis, equal to 78.2%.
AT ALL COSTS
«We continue to grow and therefore to approach the 85%“ tranquility ”threshold» says CEO Benazzi. “We are in a strong situation of suffering but also of great self-denial of the pharmacies that have done their part throughout the Covid emergency” concludes Losego. The list of all public and private facilities that offer the tampon at a controlled price is available on the Ulss 2 website: www.aulss2.veneto.it. The cost of the rapid antigen is 8 euros for minors between 12 and 17 years, 15 euros for people aged 18 and over and 22 euros for those who do not benefit from the National Health Assistance. The test remains free for those under the age of 12 and for those with a medical prescription. Very few companies have offered to pay the swab to their unvaccinated employees, and about 30,000 workers will be able to enter the company with only a negative swab.
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