VACCINE safety surveillance data from Western Australia shows patients who received influenza vaccinations at community pharmacies experienced fewer adverse events following immunisation (AEFI), than those who received jabs elsewhere.
The pilot study conducted between Mar and Oct 2020 by researchers from the University of Western Australia (UniWA) and Queensland University of Technology, integrated MedAdvisor's PlusOne vaccination recording software with active vaccine safety surveillance technology, SmartVax, to create an automated system that followed up patients to check if they had experienced any adverse events.
Of the 5,100 patients who were immunised in pharmacies 4.8% experienced AEFI, compared with 6% of the 72,398 people who received a jab in non-pharmacy settings, the study published in the BMJ, revealed.
"We are on the cusp of a new period in immunisation," the authors said.
"The crucial next step is to leverage proven technology to enable broad scale deployment of vaccines, with a trained workforce enabled with vaccine safety surveillance systems.
"We have developed an integrated active vaccine safety surveillance system that is scalable to thousands of pharmacies in Australia and potentially globally.
"Lower proportions of adverse events following influenza immunisation in pharmacies compared with non-pharmacy sites demonstrates pharmacies are a safe destination for immunisation, and may capture people who might otherwise not get vaccinated.
"With an integrated system that facilitates both reporting of the immunisation to the AIR, as well as links to national vaccine safety surveillance, pharmacists in Australia can contribute actively and safely to all immunisation programs."
Meanwhile, UniWA is conducting a national Vaccination in Pharmacy (ViP) survey, to identify how pharmacist immunisers provide and record vaccination services during their day-to-day practice, and how they identify and manage AEFI.
The anonymous survey is part of the COVID-19 ViP study, with respondents getting the chance to win one of five $100 prepaid VISA gift cards.
CLICK HERE to take the survey.
The above article was sent to subscribers in Pharmacy Daily's issue from 10 Jun 21
To see the full newsletter, see the embedded issue below or CLICK HERE to download Pharmacy Daily from 10 Jun 21
