Most of the people behind pharmacy counters who count pills and fill medication bottles are pharmacy technicians, not pharmacists — low-wage workers in positions that don’t require college degrees, NBC reported. Working in a pharmacy was always fast-paced, but in recent years the workload and stress had increased to unsustainable levels, while staffing and pay failed to keep up. During the coronavirus pandemic, the pace quickened further, especially once pharmacies began giving COVID-19 vaccine shots. There are about 420,000 pharmacy technicians in the U.S. who aren’t highly paid — the median pay is $16.87 per hour — and often have no pre-employment medical training, but they are vital to the health care system. They help pharmacists fill and check prescriptions and make sure patients get the right medication in the right amounts at the right time. Some even give vaccinations. In recent months, many technicians have quit, saying they’re being asked to do too much for too little pay, increasing the possibility that they will fill prescriptions improperly. Employers, from major drugstore chains to mom-and-pop pharmacies and even hospitals, are struggling to replace them. It’s yet another of the labor shortages that have gripped the country this year. At many drugstores, the pharmacy staff members who remain are stretched thin. The shortage has led to dayslong waits for medication, shortened pharmacy hours and some prescription errors and vaccination mix-ups — like children receiving an adult COVID-19 vaccine shot instead of a flu shot — in a business sector in which delays and mistakes can have serious health consequences. While the shortage of technicians is being felt throughout the pharmacy industry, retail pharmacies, which have some of the lowest-paying positions in the industry, have been hit the hardest.
