The Evolving Public Health Role of Pharmacists in Pandemics

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on pharmacy practise and pharmacists’ roles inaspects of public health. During the pandemic and numerous international lockdowns and restrictions, pharmacistswere essential frontline healthcare workers, helping to maintain continuity of patient care. Aim: This scoping review aimed to determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the public health role ofpharmacists in all practise contexts. Data Sources: A literature search was undertaken in December 2021 using Embase, Scopus, PubMed, and GoogleScholar databases. Method: Inclusion criteria were original research articles in English that reported on community or hospital pharmacists’ roles, or pharmacist service delivery, during a pandemic. Articles were excluded that did not report on primary research. Using the Covidence software platform, at least two members of the research team coded each full-text article for inclusion or exclusion, with any discrepancies discussed by the whole team until consensus was reached. Results: Of 621 abstracts and 117 full papers assessed, 41 articles met inclusion criteria. They described public healthinterventions and activities included telepharmacy, telehealth, remote patient care, education, COVID testing andvaccination. The majority of research originated from community and hospital pharmacist practises. While the research was reported from 23 geographical locations, the highest frequency of reports was from the United States of America (n=7, 17.1%), Spain (n=4, 9.8%), Jordan (n=3, 7.3%) and Italy (n=3, 7.3%). Conclusion: The research identified through this scoping review detailed changes to pharmacy practise involvingmeasures intended to limit the movement of patients and spread of the coronavirus.