Premier Dalton McGuinty is giving the fight against flu a shot in the arm by empowering pharmacists to vaccinate.

Pharmacy professions will also be allowed to renew most prescriptions and help patients quit smoking by prescribing medication under changes unveiled Tuesday.

“This is good news for families,” the premier told reporters at the University of Toronto’s Leslie Dan School of Pharmacy.

“It’s great news for our pharmacists and it’s great news for taxpayers as well because the more that we can do to keep people healthy . . . the more money we’re going to save in the long run,” he said.

McGuinty’s reforms, which take effect immediately, were among the recommendations in Don Drummond’s February report on streamlining government.

With only one third of Ontarians getting flu shots annually, the premier said he’s hopeful the changes will encourage more people to get inoculated.

Pharmacists will be paid $7.50 per injection, which is provided to patients free of charge. They will not receive payment for refilling prescriptions.

Health Minister Deb Matthews said 600 of Ontario’s 3,500 pharmacies would provide the service this fall and winter with the program expanding in the years ahead.

“We are maximizing the services provided by pharmacists so that Ontarians can receive the care they need safely, quickly and closer to home,” said Matthews, pointing out the initiative is part of the government’s “action plan for health care.”

To that end, pharmacists would also be able to provide up to six-month renewals of prescriptions for all non-narcotic medications — a move McGuinty noted would be especially helpful to parents of asthmatic kids whose puffers run out in the middle of night.

As well, druggists will be permitted for the first time to prescribe smoking cessation medication.

Dennis Darby, CEO of Ontario Pharmacists’ Association, hailed the moves, which he said go a long way to repairing previously testy relations with the government.

Pharmacists had battled the Liberals in 2010 after McGuinty’s administration forced a 50 per cent cut in generic drug prices and banned “professional allowance” payouts worth $750 million a year from generic manufacturers.

“This is the start of rebuilding that foundation, because it was very hard for a lot of pharmacy owners to continue in the old model when the economics had changed. We’re on the upside now,” said Darby.

“This is a great day in terms of . . . having pharmacists doing what they’ve been trained to do,” he said. Several other provinces have made similar rule changes over the past several years, most recently Alberta this spring.

In a news release, Shoppers Drug Mart said it would provide flu shots in 460 outlets this year.

“Preparation is crucial to avoid getting the flu,” said Dr. Dorian Lo, the chain’s executive vice-president, pharmacy and health care.

Dr. Doug Weir, president of the Ontario Medical Association, said the organization representing 25,000 doctors will be “working closely with pharmacists and others who choose to expand their scope of practice.”

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“We know that when doctors, pharmacists and other providers work together we can deliver a more comprehensive level of care to our patients,” Weir said in a statement that was particularly significant since the OMA and the government are in the middle of contentious contract negotiations.

NDP MPP France Gélinas (Nickel Belt) said “it’s a good step, but a step on the fringe of health care” and urged the Liberals further integrate pharmacists into the system.

“Pharmacists continue to be outside of the team. We only have access to them behind the counter.”

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