COVID-19 and clinical pharmacy worldwide—A wake up call and a call to action

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has upended health systems all over the world and clinical pharmacy has not been spared from this disruption. In some situations, this has meant an expansion of duties and provision of additional funding to support this.1, 2 In others, it has led to a clear designation of which health services are deemed to be essential and which are expendable. So far, governments worldwide have rightly deemed physical access to medications to be crucial. And in most countries, pharmacists are still the main gatekeepers and suppliers of medicines.