Heart of Health - Glenda Kent keeps Nova Scotia’s vaccines flowing

Amid the hum of freezers and walk-in fridges in Public Health’s provincial BioDepot in Dartmouth, Glenda Kent plays a vital role in keeping Nova Scotia’s vaccines flowing to providers.

On the day of this interview, the dedicated pharmacy technician is waist deep in Western Zone orders, which can add up quickly depending on the time of year and what type of vaccines are needed.

“We continually try to keep up on it,” she says during a break in the action.

In 2003, the East Hants native began as a casual employee at the old Truro hospital in Colchester County.

She joined the BioDepot team in 2021 during a period when processing COVID-19 vaccine orders were the most common shipment to various zones. Since the early 2020s the requests arrive like clockwork. Leading into respiratory illness season, for example, hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 and influenza doses go out the door to vaccine providers, including doctor’s offices, pharmacies and hospitals.

“Basically, any publicly funded vaccines in the province, at some point, have been at the BioDepot,” Glenda says, “and we make sure they go where they need to go.”

In addition to processing and sorting orders, Glenda and her team monitor the various cooling appliances inside the facility to ensure they are working efficiently and log temperatures. If challenges arise, Glenda could be one of the team members tasked with contacting vaccine manufacturers to make sure vaccines are still viable and able to be used.

“I don’t think people know how busy the BioDepot can be,” she says.

As a youngster, Glenda spent countless hours in a hospital with her ailing father, who would later succumb to colon cancer. This was a turning point for Glenda, who says seeing the medical staff help her father during this difficult time prompted an interest in helping others through a career in healthcare.

“I decided on being a pharmacy technician but, yeah, it was always something I wanted to do – working in healthcare,” she says.

“We are helping protect people with vaccines. We are sending out vaccines for infants, the elderly and we are doing a lot more with measles vaccines right now. We know this is going to help keep people safer.”

Glenda’s two daughters serve as inspiration to keep her hopping at the BioDepot work, “to try and make the world better for them.”

To be a healthcare professional, she says, means being able to have a say in promoting wellbeing, healthy living and the benefits of illness prevention.

“It gives you a sense of purpose – that what you’re doing actually can make a positive difference to someone else,” Glenda explains.

“What we do here at the Bio Depot is very different than what I was doing when I was working in hospital pharmacy.  At the pharmacy we prepared different medications for the patients on the floor units and outpatient clinics. After Covid started and the opportunity came to help set up clinics to get the COVID-19 vaccines out there, it was great being part of the bigger operation and feeling like I was doing my part to get life back to normal.

“I really like being part of the process, helping from the ground level when new vaccine programs start, where the organization is doing something and knowing the reason we are doing it. It feels great to be out there and helping.”

Glenda says it is gratifying to deploy publicly funded vaccines, knowing they are free and widely accessible to eligible Nova Scotians.

Learn more about Nova Scotia’s publicly funded vaccines at www.nshealth.ca/immunizations.  

Photo of Glenda Kent.