Do not wait for this pharmacy. Go now.
Kind Pharmacy is not open, and even once it is, a pharmacist in Ontario cannot prescribe PEP. You need to be assessed by a physician or nurse practitioner, and PEP has to start within 72 hours of the exposure — sooner works better.
Any hospital emergency department can assess you for PEP at any hour. This is the most reliable route, and the right one at night or at a weekend.
A sexual health clinic can assess you during opening hours — several downtown Toronto services run PEP and PrEP, including some within walking distance of 231 Dundas St E.
Sexual Health Infoline Ontario can tell you where to go: 1-800-668-2437 toll-free, or 416-392-2437 in Toronto. Open 10am to 10.30pm on weekdays and 11am to 3pm at the weekend, and closed on statutory holidays — outside those hours, go to an emergency department instead.
The clock started at the exposure, not at the appointment.
If it has already been longer than 72 hours, still get assessed. Testing and other steps are still worth doing.
HIV & sexual health
PEP — if something happened in the last 72 hours
PEP is medication taken after a possible exposure to HIV. It has to start within 72 hours, and sooner works better.
Why a pharmacy cannot help with this today
PEP is a prescription-only course of anti-HIV medication taken for 28 days. In Ontario, prescribing it requires a physician or nurse practitioner — it is not on the minor ailments list and it is not something pharmacist scope covers.
Assessment also involves a baseline HIV test, which is laboratory or clinic work rather than something a pharmacy does. So the honest answer is that the useful part of this happens somewhere else, and the fastest thing we can do for you is say so clearly.
What we will do, once open
Dispense the course promptly when someone arrives with a prescription, check it against everything else you take, sort out coverage rather than leaving you at a counter with a bill, and help you finish all 28 days — which is the part that makes it work.
And when the course ends, talk about whether PrEP is the more useful conversation, since needing PEP once is one of the commonest reasons to start it.
Common questions
How long do I really have?
72 hours from the exposure, and it works better the earlier it starts. Treat it in hours, not days. Past 72 hours, still get assessed — testing and other steps are still worth doing.
What will it cost?
It depends on your coverage, and hospitals have their own arrangements. Do not let a billing question run the clock out — go, get assessed, and ask about coverage there.
Can I just buy it?
No. It is prescription-only, and anything sold to you without one is not something to rely on for this.
I’m past 72 hours.
Then PEP is likely off the table, but testing is not, and neither is starting PrEP so that a next time is covered. Both are worth doing rather than nothing.
Kind Clinic on the second floor will assess for PEP on a walk-in basis once open, and its PEP page lists where to go today. Kind Clinic and Kind Pharmacy are separate businesses under common ownership. You can fill your prescription anywhere.
Kind Clinic →