Knowledge Gaps Limit Pneumococcal Vaccination in Community Pharmacies
Investigators said that targeted education and interventions are key to the long term success of community pharmacy immunization programs.
Knowledge gaps among pharmacists and various patient barriers continue to negatively impact pneumococcal vaccination in the community setting, according to data published in the journal Vaccine.1 Authors of the study said that targeted education and interventions are key to the long term success of community pharmacy immunization programs.
Knowledge Gaps Limit Pneumococcal Vaccination in Community Pharmacies / Bernard Chantal - stock.adobe.com
Pneumococcal disease contributes significantly to global morbidity and mortality, particularly in young children and older adult patients with certain medical conditions.2 In the United States, 67% of invasive pneumococcal disease among patients aged 50 to 64 years occurred in those with a chronic or immunocompromising condition. There are 2 types of vaccination approved in the US, pneumococcal conjugate and pneumococcal polysaccharide. The CDC recommends them for patients based on age or certain risk factors.
“While pharmacists have been delivering vaccines for decades, the role expanded substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic,” the authors wrote. “In fact, more than 90% of COVID vaccines and 60–70% of influenza vaccines were administered in a pharmacy setting. However, only 40–50% of pneumococcal vaccines were administered in a pharmacy. This may be due to complicated pneumococcal vaccination schedules leading to a lack of recommendation by the pharmacist.”
Investigators from the University of South Carolina conducted a study to identify barriers and assess pharmacist knowledge of pneumococcal vaccines in a community pharmacy setting. Data for the study was collected from an email survey of 124 pharmacists in South Carolina. The survey included 33 questions assessing pneumococcal vaccine knowledge, barriers to vaccine administration, readiness to change, current immunization practices, and demographics such as highest level of pharmacy training, professional title, primary practice setting, and pharmacy hours of operation.
A total of 58 pharmacists responded to the survey between June and July 2022. Of those who responded, 77.5% had a PharmD, 19% had a BSPharm, 67.2% were a manager, 25.9% were a staff pharmacist, 37.8% worked in a national chain setting, 31.1% were independent pharmacists, 14.8% were independent pharmacists who owned multiple stores, and 8.2% worked in supermarkets and regional chains. All of the respondents practiced in pharmacies open more than 40 hours each week.
The study found respondents were only able to identify the correct vaccine recommendation 4 times with an overwhelming correct response when given different case examples. When asked about barriers to pneumococcal vaccination, 53.4% said difficulty determining patient eligibility and 44.8% said that patient willingness to receive the vaccine were minor barriers. The 3 most common underlying barriers were financial, lack of resources, and patient. A majority of the respondents reported being confident in their pharmacy's ability to coordinate tasks so that a new vaccination service would go smoothly. However, 74.2% were not confident that their staff wanted to implement new services.
Of vaccines administered in the past 12 months, flu vaccines were the most common, followed by shingles and COVID-19. Approximately 84.5% administered a pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine 23, 77.6% administered a pneumococcal conjugate 13, and 60.3% administered a pneumococcal conjugate 20.
“Given the identified lack of knowledge and challenges surrounding pneumococcal recommendations among healthcare providers, future directions should prioritize the development and implementation of targeted training programs within pharmacist education to improve understanding and confidence in administering the appropriate pneumococcal vaccines, especially for high-risk patient populations,” the authors concluded. “Addressing barriers to pneumococcal vaccination services is crucial to the success of these programs in the community pharmacy.”
READ MORE: Pneumococcal Resource Center
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