Survey Results Offer COVID-19 Vaccination Implementation Recommendations for Pharmacies

Recent survey results and associated focus group feedback demonstrated that incorporating pharmacists’ viewpoints on vaccine implementation is an important strategy for efficiently expanding vaccination administration during pandemics.

Researchers from the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association study obtained feedback from independent community pharmacists across Pennsylvania through an electronic survey comprising 88 participants and 2 virtual focus groups of 11 participants which were conducted prior to availability of the first COVID-19 vaccine.

Survey data was categorized into 5 topic areas including: workflow; resources; staff and patient safety; communication; and documentation and training.

“Independent pharmacies in Pennsylvania are often located in more rural settings, and by their nature do not have access to space, personnel, and financial resources that are available to larger chain pharmacies,” stated study authors.

Based on survey results and focus group feedback, top pharmacists recommendations were as follows:

• “Working with community partners to support offsite mass vaccination clinics.”
• “Leveraging partnerships with community organizations and universities could be utilized to support staffing for vaccination efforts.”
• “Using an appointment-based immunization model was identified as one tool to optimize patient and staff safety during the pandemic.”
• “Utilizing existing scheduling tools as well as text messaging and automated phone calls for second-dose reminders.”
• “Further training and process improvements to support vaccine documentation and transmission to Pennsylvania Statewide Immunization Information System.”

Study authors added, “Insight from this research informs numerous strategies for independent community pharmacies across the nation to optimize pandemic vaccination preparedness.”

Reference:
Mercer J, Liang A, Yoon J, Nquyen J, Carrol J, Coley KC. COVID-19 pandemic vaccination preparedness strategies for independent community pharmacies. J Am Pharm Assoc. Published online January 6, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.japh.2022.01.003.