A PROMINENT West Belfast pharmacist has praised the resilience of the local community, as he reflected on the challenges thrown up by the Covid-19 pandemic, and his hopes for 2022.

Dr Terry Maguire of Maguire’s Pharmacy on Beechmount Avenue has played a leading role over the past 20 months as local pharmacies found themselves on the Covid frontline.

“March 2020 was definitely the toughest month, habits changed overnight," he said, looking back. "Due to the new lockdowns, we had people who we hadn’t seen in years coming to us to get their prescriptions again. The biggest challenge was in maintaining our supply of medicines, but we were fortunate the government amended legislation which enabled us to ensure we didn’t run short at any time.”

The pandemic meant that changes happened almost overnight, which in a way revolutionised local pharmacies, and Dr Maguire noted that people became extremely reliant on their local pharmacy.

“People became very reliant on their local pharmacy, and even though we have always been on the frontline in regards to community health, we found ourselves in great demand, and staff were working flat out for months, and soon we were in a position wherein they needed support also, particularly because of some of strains being put on the health service, such as with people not being able to see their local GP, which meant that people came to see us instead.”

Despite being extremely busy, and experiencing the losses which all communities face during a pandemic, Dr Maguire said the role played by local pharmacies has led to a renewed appreciation for community pharmacies, from the community and also from politicians and the health service.

“It’s really awakened an appreciation for community pharmacy. We’ve received tremendous praise from the community, and also from Health Minister Robin Swann, and members of the Health Board for the role community pharmacy has played in stepping up to help.”

The busy schedules haven’t stopped, as Maguire’s Pharmacy has also been at the forefront of delivering vaccinations to the community, and offer a vaccination service every Wednesday and Saturday with a capacity for 100 vaccinations. The pharmacy currently offers Moderna, as well as booster jabs, plus seasonal flu jabs.

Dr Maguire said around half of West Belfast’s pharmacies are currently offering vaccinations and Maguire’s Pharmacy was one of the first in the North to roll out the Moderna vaccine, which has been shown to be resilient in combating the effects of the virus.

“We began offering vaccinations in March 2021 with the Astra Zeneca vaccine, which we administered until July 2021. We were one of the first pharmacies to begin administering the Moderna vaccine, particularly because BT12 and BT13 were identified as having some of the highest levels of those under-30s who had not yet taken up their vaccinations, and we are continuing to offer this service twice a week to ensure people can have access to a vaccine.”

Dr Maguire offered thanks to both staff, and the West Belfast community at large for their efforts and role in helping to ensure that local pharmacies were able to deliver the best service possible during an incredibly difficult time.

“When it comes to the strength of the community, there’s no stronger community than West Belfast. Community strength really makes a difference in how we combat pandemics, and when a community has such strength, such as in West Belfast, it makes all the difference with regards to overcoming the adversity faced.

“Our staff have been outstanding in the way they’ve responded, the industry and pharmacy service had to be almost remodelled overnight, but our staff and those in other pharmacies accomplished this, with great understanding from the community at large.”

DOWNGRADING VIRUS

Regarding the new variant of Coronavirus – Omicron – Dr Maguire remains positive, despite the rising number of cases. Explaining that the new variant is indeed more infectious than previous variants, he said the symptoms it produces appear milder than the Delta variant.

Dr Maguire stated that while Coronavirus appears to be here to stay, there are hopes from leading scientists the virus will be downgraded from ‘pandemic’ to ‘endemic’ meaning that although it will be here to stay, it will become part of normal life, as with other seasonal flus.

“I believe it will be with us for some time, however there are hopes from leading scientists that it will soon become endemic, rather than pandemic, and this has been due to the overwhelming success of vaccination and also community spirit in combating the virus. If there’s a community anywhere that can come together and support each other, and overcome adversity, it’s the people of West Belfast.”