Pharmacists are contributing to expanded immunisation coverage globally, thereby reducing illness and deaths from vaccine-preventable diseases. The report provides intelligence on the current status of these services in 36 countries that have regulated pharmacy-based vaccination services to identify pharmacists’ current role in DTP booster vaccination, COVID vaccination and meningococcal meningitis vaccination. The new data shows that their role has expanded since the publication of a previous FIP report in 2020. This increase has been driven in part by the need for urgent and mass vaccination as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the report authors say. In addition, vaccination authority policy development, stakeholder engagement and acceptance of pharmacists’ role, logistics development, and education and training were highlighted as being necessary if pharmacists’ role in vaccination services is to be leveraged further.
Advocating expansion of the pharmacist’s role in immunisation: A focus on diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis booster, COVID-19 and meningitis vaccinations (2022)
