Survey: Most Pharmacies Polled Plan to Administer COVID-19 Vaccines
A survey conducted by NCPA polled nearly 800 community pharmacy owners/managers on whether they plan to offer a COVID-19 vaccine in their pharmacies.
A new survey conducted by NCPA suggests that most pharmacies plan to offer a coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) immunization service when a vaccine becomes available.
Eighty-six percent of respondents said they plan to offer the COVID-19 vaccines in their pharmacies when they hit the marketplace, according to the survey of nearly 800 community pharmacy owners/managers.
Another 12% of pharmacists indicated that they want more information before they decide, and 1.9% said they will not offer COVID-19 vaccinations.
A large majority of community pharmacists already provide vaccinations for other illnesses, such as influenza. And, among those, 70% administer the vaccines to patients at locations beyond their stores. Eighty-one percent provide immunizations at local businesses, and 53% immunize at long-term care facilities, according to the results.
Other locations include community centers, churches, schools, factories, and prisons.
“A big takeaway from the survey is that community pharmacists are highly mobile. Their reach goes far beyond the brick and mortar of their pharmacy and most are more than willing to go wherever they can do the most good,” NCPA CEO B. Douglas Hoey, RPh, said in a news release.2
Making sure the COVID-19 vaccines get to small towns and rural areas is a key problem for public health officials that community pharmacists can solve, Hoey added. Nearly 80% of community pharmacists operate in places with fewer than 50,000 people and around 40% serve communities with fewer than 10,000 residents, according to Hoey.
References:
1. Report for COVID-19 Vaccine and Testing Administration Survey. NCPA. Accessed September 1, 2020. https://ncpa.org/sites/default/files/2020-08/8-27-vaccine-survey.pdf
2. Survey shows community pharmacies ready and able to deliver COVID-19 vaccines. NCPA; August 31, 2020. Accessed September 1, 2020. https://ncpa.org/newsroom/news-releases/2020/08/31/survey-shows-community-pharmacies-ready-and-able-deliver-covid-19
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