OVER a quarter of a million people have sbeen vaccinated against influenza this year through community pharmacies in Queensland, reported the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
Queensland branch President Chris Owen (pictured) said, "as of 12 May, more than 267,000 Queenslanders have opted for flu vaccinations at their local pharmacy, marking a 27% surge from 2023's figures".
Speaking to Pharmacy Daily, Owen added, "it's a great result but we can do more".
He explained pharmacists need to be more proactive as "we all do a poor job in marketing these health services to our patients".
"Certainly vaccinations are a great public health initiative, and as patients are coming into our pharmacies for the winter season, we should be proactively asking them to consider these things for their health.
"I think we, as an industry, do these things quite poorly.
"We have people walking in through our doors and we just allow them to walk out without even asking them [about vaccinations] at all - this really needs to improve."
Owen said the peak flu season "runs through to end Jun, and even Jul, so we need to do the best thing for our patients and make sure we are regularly asking our patients about taking their vaccinations".
"Just being reactive is a thing of the past," he commented.
Owen reminded colleagues about the expanded access to Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine for patients through participating community pharmacies.
"Eligible patients also now have access to RSV vaccinations through their participating community pharmacy," said Owen.
These are adults aged 75 years and older, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples aged 60 to 74 years, and adults aged 60 to 74 years with medical conditions that increase their risk of severe disease due to RSV.
He highlighted concerns over RSV cases which have surpassed flu cases this year, revealing that the state has recorded 15,020 RSV cases and 12,065 flu incidents so far.
With the vast majority of Queenslanders living within close proximity to a pharmacy, Owen underscored the convenience and accessibility of pharmacy-based vaccination services.
"Ninety-seven percent of people who live in urban areas live within 2.5km of their nearest community pharmacy, and 83% of regional Australians do so within 5km of a pharmacy, providing easy access to healthcare," Owen concluded. JG
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