Thanks to OUSA and Albany Street Pharmacy, isolating students can now get over-the-counter meds and other pharmacy goodies delivered for free. The service can be accessed via the OUSA Support Hub Website.
With Covid absolutely ripping through North D, many people who would’ve helped their mates pick up stuff have ended up being in iso themselves. According to Greg from Albany Street Pharmacy, this initiative was designed as a way to help with exactly that. For all the students “who are stuck isolating in their flats, and are not able to get someone to collect on their behalf”, this service is for you.
The orders are processed, sealed and labelled by pharmacy staff before getting delivered by OUSA’s network of staff and volunteers (usually alongside the food parcels). If you’d like a delivery, though, try not to sleep in. According to Greg, “The intention is that orders placed before 2 to 3pm are delivered that afternoon, depending on the number of orders, stock, and OUSA's workload.”
As for what you can order, the sky’s the limit, really. If it’s available over-the-counter (i.e. without a prescription), they can be delivered. And yes, that includes condoms. According to OUSA’s Sage Burke: “While the intention is to be able to provide help with symptom relief for unwell students, there isn't a restriction on what products can be delivered with this service, at this point. We got the service running as fast as we could.”
The OUSA service only covers over-the-counter products, but a separate delivery service (run by the pharmacy themselves) is also available for prescription medications, according to Greg. “If a person is Covid positive,” he said, “there's a funded delivery service for prescriptions. This also extends to the prescription charges, with some conditions.” Similarly, if you’d like to get those drugs to your door, it would pay to get your order in early: “Almost all scripts received before 3pm are delivered that day.”