Managing COVID-19 in Kosovo community and hospital pharmacies

SARS-CoV-2 is a strain of the coronavirus that was first discovered in the Chinese city of Wuhan - and the spread began as a pneumonia of the unknown causative agent on December 31, 2019. On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the explosion as a Public Health Emergency at the level of International Concern. On February 11, 2020, the International Committee on Virus Taxonomy (ICTV) decided to name the virus as (SARS-CoV-2) severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and the WHO finally decided to name the disease caused by this virus as COVID-19 (for Coronavirus disease identified in 2019). The responsible institutions and also the Kosovo Chamber of Pharmacists have immediately given various recommendations regarding preventive measures which should be taken by pharmacists in pharmacies in order to prevent the spread of the virus. These recommendations have also been made in collaboration with the organizations FIP and PGEU which expertise has also been utilized and such materials have been translated and sent to pharmacists as a reference with the latest news regarding the situation. This work shows an analysis of the role of community and hospital pharmacists in pandemic management as well as the challenges faced by pharmacists. Also part of the analysis is the chronology of medicines which are recommended for use according to clinical protocols and approval by the EMA with the indication for COVID-19.