long-acting injectable formulations of buprenorphine may be preferred. Buprenorphine initiation via telemedicine is legally possible in the U.S and has been successfully reported in a case report study (Harris et al., 2020). A retrospective two years study found no difference between telemedicine and face-to-face buprenorphine medication-assisted treatment programs (Zheng et al., 2017). Other strategies, as automated pill dispenser or hotlines may be helpful (Alexander et al., 2020; Becker and Fiellin, 2020; Samuels et al., 2020). In the US, some coalitions of patients, service providers and academics have emerged to act preemptively at early stages of the pandemic, ahead of official initiatives, to develop ameliorative risk reduction solutions(Heimer et al., 2020). Some authors suggest an underutilized source to address these serious challenges in the US, namely community pharmacists (Cochran et al., 2020). US pharmacists are not allowed to prescribe OST for the treatment OUD, contrary to other countries as Canada or Australia.
