Strategies for Pharmacists to Increase Vaccine Uptake Among Diverse Populations | NCPA 2024

Despite the proven effectiveness of vaccines, rates of immunizations among adults remains low in the United States. According to recent data from the CDC, 13.5% of adults in the country have received an updated COVID-19 vaccine, 42.5% have gotten an influenza vaccine, and only 37.6% of adults over the age of 75 have ever received an RSV vaccine.¹

Vaccination rates also remain low among racial and ethnic minority populations. This is due to many longstanding social and health inequities that act as barriers, including poverty, limited health care access, distrust of the health care system, and a history of discrimination in medical research.² Increasing vaccine uptake among these diverse populations is key to overcoming health disparities.

At the National Community Pharmacists Association (NCPA) 2024 Annual Convention and Expo, held October 26 to 29 in Columbus, Ohio, Drug Topics sat down with Lauren Angelo, PharmD, MBA, associate dean of academic affairs and an associate professor of pharmacy practice at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science College of Pharmacy, to discuss what strategies pharmacists can use to increase vaccine uptake among diverse populations and how they can address any barriers or concerns specific to these groups.

“[Pharmacists] are the most accessible health care professionals and a lot of times we are the closest opportunity for patients,” Angelo said. “We saw that most influenza vaccines are administered in pharmacies so we have the responsibility to do that. If [pharmacists] can get offsite and get out into the community to provide some of offsite clinics, mobile clinics, or mass vaccination clinics, they are great ways to reach patients.”

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Coverage of the National Community Pharmacists Association 2024 Annual Convention and Expo was supported by Red Sail, with independent editorial content creation on-site by the Drug Topics team.

References

1. Vaccination Trends. Report. CDC. October 24, 2024. Accessed October 27, 2024. https://www.cdc.gov/respiratory-viruses/data/vaccination-trends.html

2. Granade CJ, Lindley MC, Jatlaoui T, et al. Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Adult Vaccination: A Review of the State of Evidence. Health Equity. 2022 Mar 7;6(1):206-223. doi: 10.1089/heq.2021.0177. PMID: 35402775; PMCID: PMC8985539.