FIP’s work on vaccination is based on the assertion (and emerging evidence) that improving vaccination coverage and promoting a life-course approach to vaccination are global imperatives to which pharmacists can greatly contribute. With adequate training, pharmacists are competent to perform a series of roles that can significantly contribute to improving vaccination coverage, from providing evidence-based advice on vaccines and addressing vaccine hesitancy and complacency, to administering vaccines and managing vaccination records. Although pharmacists have administered vaccines in several countries for years, this role is still new or even unknown to the profession in many parts of the world.
A recent timeline of FIP’s work on the area of vaccination can be found below in Figure 1.
Figure 1 – Timeline for FIP’s work on vaccination
9.1 Recent publications
9.1.1 FIP vaccination handbook for pharmacists: Procedures, safety aspects, common risk points and frequent questions – (2021)
This FIP handbook compiles the various roles that pharmacists play, that contribute towards improving vaccination coverage rates and access to vaccination services across all ages and population groups.
It supports individual pharmacists with understanding how they can contribute to improving vaccination coverage through a range of services, from patient education and advice, to logistical roles and to the administration of vaccines.
This FIP handbook provides guidance on the practical implementation of these services and includes guidelines on the procedures, safety aspects, common risk points and frequently asked questions about vaccines and their administration. The publication can be accessed here.
9.1.2 Building vaccine confidence and communicating vaccine value – A toolkit for pharmacists – (2021)
This FIP toolkit describes specific roles that the pharmacy workforce play in addressing vaccine hesitancy and concerns. It supports individual pharmacists with tools for effectively communicating the value, efficacy and safety of vaccines, and for addressing concerns about or the rejection of vaccines.
It provides a background on vaccine hesitancy and the main reasons for it as well as ways to address vaccine hesitancy directly with individuals. It also includes examples of pharmacy-based campaigns and information, and guidance on advice for different types of vaccines. The toolkit can be found here.
9.1.3 Pharmacy based pandemic vaccination programme: regulatory self-assessment tool – (2021)
This self-assessment tool helps to identify strengths and areas for improvement in order to inform pandemic planning efforts ahead of current and future waves of COVID-19. It is an aid to help national ministries of health and regulators in assessing pandemic preparedness and the state of legislation and regulations within their countries to facilitate mass vaccination and testing and enhanced patient care through pharmacists and community pharmacies.
This self-assessment tool seeks to help with vaccination planning and mitigate risk of future waves of COVID-19. While this tool is not exhaustive, and not yet validated, it is based on the experiences of professional regulators in countries where pharmacy-based vaccination and testing have been successfully introduced and regulated and, as such, seeks to be a supportive tool. Please find this publication here.
9.2 Recent digital events
9.2.1 Event series – “Joining forces towards improved vaccination access and coverage rates — High-level roundtables”
Vaccination coverage rates for several diseases are suboptimal and remain below WHO targets in many countries of all income levels. As such, FIP considers that it is essential to promote dialogue and increase understanding around these perceptions among healthcare professionals’ organisations at the international level, so that these can be cascaded to the regional, country and local levels.
This series of two high-level roundtables included an event with FIP’s sister organisations for the other healthcare professionals (the World Medical Association, the International Council of Nurses, the World Dental Federation – FDI, World Physiotherapy and FIP) and one with civil society organisations. The latter included representatives from different constituencies, including the International Federation on Ageing, the Active Citizenship Network, the International Diabetes Federation, the International Primary Care Respiratory Group, and Vaccines Today. The goal was to discuss and outline synergistic and complementary advocacy actions for broader access and convenience of vaccination services through a diversity of providers and pathways. Details from this series can be found below.
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Joining forces across health professionals towards improved vaccination coverage 29 June 2021 |
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Joining forces across civil society organisations towards improved vaccination coverage 21 October 2021 |
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9.2.2 Event series – “Building vaccine confidence together”
The World Health Organization lists vaccine hesitancy—concerns related to vaccination or outright refusal to receive vaccines despite availability—as one of the top ten threats to global health in 2019. This threat is evidenced by recent outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases in many high-income countries and the sheer volume of disinformation circulating regarding the recently approved vaccines against novel Sars-Cov-2 virus.
Often, “one-size-fits-all” vaccine promotion efforts can backfire when presented to individuals who are already sceptical of vaccines.
These events outlined evidence-based strategies for developing pharmacist-led interventions which focus on communication with patients in order to build vaccine confidence and improve uptake and in immunization campaigns which communicate the value of vaccines to specific patient groups in order to build vaccine confidence and improve uptake.
Details for this series can be found below.
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Developing effective pharmacy-led vaccination campaigns 26 July 2021 |
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Understanding vaccine hesitancy and building vaccine confidence through effective conversations 8 September 2021 |
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9.2.3 Digital event – Increasing vaccination coverage through pharmacists
Although pharmacists have administered vaccines in several countries for years, this role is still new or even unknown to the profession in many parts of the world. As a role that involves direct contact with the patient and the administration of a product by injection, it may still generate some concerns among pharmacists with regards to the administration procedure, common errors and the management of anaphylactic reactions. This webinar described such procedures and addressed common questions and concerns. Details from this series can be found below.
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Vaccine administration routes and procedures: frequent concerns and common errors 13 Jan 2021 |
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9.2.4 Digital event – Infodemic and vaccine hesitancy response
This digital event discussed how important it is to promote confidence in influenza vaccines and avoid complacency towards vaccination due to lower influenza rates in the past year. Harnessing the convenience of access to pharmacies will be paramount to achieve these goals.
Due to the widespread adoption of disease prevention measures to reduce transmission of COVID-19, the prevalence of the seasonal influenza lowered drastically around the world. However, as more people become vaccinated against COVID-19 and measures such as mask wearing, social distancing and home-based working or schooling are eased, the flu could return with high incidence rates and people could be more susceptible to the influenza virus due to lack of recent exposure. Developing flu vaccines in 2021 was also more challenging than usual due to less available data. This uncertainty around the return of influenza makes vaccination all the more critical, and it essential to communicate this to the population. Details from this series can be found below.
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Confidence, complacency and convenience: Key elements of influenza vaccination strategies in times of COVID-19 12 Oct 2021 |
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9.2.5 Digital event – Presentation of the technical document “Pharmaceutical services in immunisation: contributions, experiences and implementation in the Americas region”
The document “Pharmaceutical services in immunisation: Contributions, experiences and implementation in the Americas region”, authored by the Drug Information Centre of the Pharmaceutical Research Institute of the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Costa Rica for the Pharmaceutical Forum of the Americas, provides an overview of the involvement of the pharmacy profession in immunisation in Latin America. This introductory webinar will provide an overview of the document’s content and how it relates to the FIP Development Goals. This document is intended to be a tool for the implementation of pharmaceutical services in immunisation in the region, which also complements other reports issued by FIP. The document is available in Spanish, English and Portuguese. Details from this event can be found below.
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Presentation of the technical document Pharmaceutical services in immunisation: contributions, experiences and implementation in the Americas region. 17 Nov 2021 |
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