- There are different rules in the cantons regarding competencies for vaccination in pharmacies. This is currently evident in the two Basels.
- While in Baselbiet and other cantons pharmaceutical assistants are also allowed to give a flu vaccination, in Basel-Stadt only pharmacists are allowed to give the injection.
- The Basel Pharmacists Association is now calling on the canton to change the regulations.
Switzerland is sniffling, sneezing and coughing – operations are running at full speed in many pharmacies. Especially in winter, the rush is greater than usual due to the flu and colds. In addition, you can currently get vaccinated against flu or Covid in many pharmacies. An additional expense for pharmacies.
Ultimately it’s about the question of liability.
However, anyone who wants to make a vaccination appointment at a pharmacy in the canton of Basel-Stadt may have to wait until a trained pharmacist is on site. This is what the canton’s health authorities require. “Complications can occur with a vaccination. “Ultimately it’s about the question of liability,” explains Anne Tschudin, spokeswoman for the Basel Health Department.
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Injections: In Basel-Stadt it is the pharmacist’s responsibility, in the Basel region others are also allowed.
Keystone/Samuel Golay
A few meters further on the other side of the cantonal border, in the canton of Baselland, it is easier to get a vaccination appointment. In the Basel area, pharmaceutical assistants are also allowed to administer the vaccination syringe.
This means that the same rules apply in the canton of Baselland as in numerous other cantons. In 15 cantons, not only pharmacists but also pharmaceutical assistants are allowed to carry out vaccinations, according to a request from the pharmacists’ association Pharmasuisse.
We would be very happy if we could delegate this task to others.
This different handling is not well received by the Basel-Stadt Pharmacists Association. “We would be very happy if we could delegate this task to others,” says Lydia Isler-Christ, President of the Basel-City Pharmacists Association and owner of the Sevogel Pharmacy in Basel. She also emphasizes that the question of liability is very clear: “If something happens, we are liable.”
The desire to adapt the vaccination regulations to other cantons was repeatedly expressed to the Basel Health Department. Isler-Christ is convinced that an adjustment would make the work of pharmacists easier in times of a shortage of skilled workers: “Also because there tend to be too few pharmacists.”
It is a great relief for pharmacists.
However, the Basel health authorities remain firm: “No change is planned,” says Anne Tschudin. Meanwhile, pharmacies in the neighboring canton of Baselland have not had any negative experiences so far. Since last year, assistants have also been administering vaccination syringes there. “It is a great relief for pharmacists,” says Katherine Gessler, President of the Basel Regional Pharmacists Association.
In Basel-Stadt, pharmacies continue to hope that the canton will give in. “We would be ready,” says Lydia Isler-Christ.