Pharmacy Technician Involvement in Vaccination Services Provides Benefit

Involving pharmacy technicians in vaccination service delivery improves pharmacy workflow and patient outcomes, according to a research review published in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association.

“Despite pharmacy technician vaccine administration roles being highly regulated and requiring pharmacist supervision,” explained study author Nancy M Waite, PharmD, of the University of Waterloo in Canada, and coauthors. “The evidence suggests that early adopters of professional practice advancements for pharmacy technicians may expand vaccination service capacity efficiently and safely, reaching more patients.”

The review included 14 pharmacy practice research articles evaluating the role of pharmacy technicians in vaccination services.

“Given that the regulation of pharmacy technicians and an expanded scope into vaccine administration is new, it is unsurprising that the majority of research on this topic is less than 5 years old,” reported Dr Waite and colleagues. “This scoping review suggests that research in this area is expanding; however, it is currently almost exclusively taking place in the United States.”

Most of the articles in the review focused on 2 emerging vaccination roles for pharmacy technicians: patient screening for vaccine eligibility and administering vaccines. Deployment of pharmacy technicians in both roles demonstrated positive patient outcomes, according to the review. Pharmacy technicians tended to feel more comfortable administering vaccines than screening patients, however, because of the complexity involved in screening.

Both pharmacists and pharmacy technicians supported accredited vaccine administration training for technicians, according to the review, citing benefits in workflow efficiency, pharmacist clinical time, and job satisfaction for pharmacy technicians.

“Training programs using a variety of modalities were well received and technicians report feeling prepared and able to contribute to vaccination services after training—a sentiment that is echoed by supervising pharmacists,” wrote researchers.

Reference:
DeMarco M, Carter C, Houle SKD, Waite NM. The role of pharmacy technicians in vaccination services: a scoping review. J American Pharm Assoc. 2022;62(1):15-26.e11. doi:10.1016/j.japh.2021.09.016