PHARMACIST
OF THE YEAR
RONNIE LENNON
Ballymote Pharmacy, Downpatrick
According to the Health & Social Care Board, at the time of going to print, Ronnie is currently carrying out more vaccinations than any other pharmacist in Northern Ireland and is also involved in a range of local community projects. Ronnie also has a unique healthcare pathway that he has developed for both his local community and patients much further afield. In 2000, Ronnie’s interest in sport also led to him setting up Vivomed, a sports medicine company.
SONIA DUFFY
Boots, Derry/Londonderry
When the COVID vaccination was first rolled out, Sonia took it on on a personal level. As a result, she vaccinated at every opportunity, paying particular interest in patients whose stories she knew and whom she knew would be most at risk. In terms of the boosters, Sonia has been running a walk-in clinic, which she set up on the very day the boosters arrived in the pharmacy.
VINCENT HARKIN
Harkin’s and Glass Pharmacies, Maghera
On finding out pharmacies would be called upon to deliver the vaccine (and after moving his family into the pharmacy premises to ensure that he was available at all times), Vincent had a purpose-built consultation room designed and built at the pharmacy premises in under four weeks. Clinics regularly ran until midnight in order to cope with demand and ensure everyone had the opportunity get their vaccine out of working hours, with Vincent delivering thousands of vaccines himself.
