During the COVID-19 pandemic, that continues to spread across the United States and vaccine distribution begins, the National Pharmacy Technician Association (NPTA), a leading provider of ACPE-accredited continuing education and advanced training programs for certified pharmacy technicians, is announcing the launch of a nationally-recognized pharmacy technician administered immunization training program.
To date in the USA more than 17 million cases of coronavirus infection, and 311,000 deaths. “At least 2,957 new coronavirus deaths and 201,649 new cases were reported in the United States on Dec. 15. Over the past week, there has been an average of 206,557 cases per day, an increase of 28 percent from the average two weeks earlier,” – The New York Times reported.
The State Of The Virus
On the week 6-12 December, the country reached a terrible milestone, with more than 3,000 deaths announced across the country on Wednesday, December 9. The nation is seeing steady case growth and explosive increases in deaths.
California just became the first state to add more than 30,000 cases in a day. Its growth has been driven by a rapidly worsening outlook in Los Angeles County, where more than 12,600 cases were announced Thursday, Dec. 10, a record.
Virginia is among 19 states that set a weekly case record on Dec. 10. More than 26,000 cases were announced there over seven days, prompting Gov. Ralph Northam to order new restrictions on gatherings.
More than 16,771,500 people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus and at least 303,900 have died, according to a New York Times database.
NPTA Immunization Administration Training Program
NPTA’s Immunization Administration Training Program was developed under the guidance of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), is by far the most affordable, accessible and scalable program of its kind. The program has been designed to train hundreds of thousands of technicians within weeks, enabling the rapid deployment of vaccines to the public.
“The NPTA program charges one low, fixed cost per pharmacy to provide the program to an unlimited number of technicians, including new hires, without incurring additional costs,” – was reported in the article.
Designed for both large-scale chains and independent pharmacies, NPTA’s program enables businesses to train more technicians in less time, at a lower cost. For the general public, this means that more vaccines can be administered in less time, potentially limiting the spread of COVID-19 and saving lives.
“The faster we administer vaccines, the more lives we can save,” said Mike Johnston, CPhT, Founder & CEO of NPTA. “Pharmacy technicians will be vital to administering COVID-19 vaccines to the public. It’s critical to the public health that we train numerous of technicians in a matter of weeks, so we can efficiently distribute and administer vaccines across the nation. That’s exactly why NPTA created this program.”
“Pharmacists and their staff are critical to the COVID-19 response,” said Assistant Secretary for Health ADM Brett P. Giroir, M.D. in an October statement. “Together with pediatricians and family physicians, they are ensuring that Americans receive the vaccines they need where they need it.”
