Pharmacy Daily | ‘Go forth, vaccinate’ pharmacists told

PHARMACISTS are being urged to have confidence in their capabilities to play a critical part in the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination campaigns.

Speaking during an International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) webinar this week, Queensland University of Technology School of Clinical Sciences Head, Professor Lisa Nissen, said, "we've got these skillsets around cold chain, immunity vaccines, vax schedules, anaphylaxis and more, and we've added through our training, patient assessment, hand hygiene, declining patients and the different routes of administration".

"So I think that's the really important bit we need to highlight to people when have concerns and questions about pharmacists and pharmacy being able to participate in vaccination," she said.

"Many of the concerns [about pharmacist vaccination services] are driven by other people and that pharmacy really gets a lot of its anxiety from things that other people direct towards us.

"[But] we have the capacity to work through many of those things through good training... [so] go forth, vaccinate."

With the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in Australia set to begin next month (PD 14 Jan), Nissen said pharmacists needed to be prepared to engage with patients who may be hesitant about being vaccinated.

"Vaccine hesitancy is one of the top threats to global health," she said.

"So patient engagement is critical, and we know its multi-factorial, it doesn't mean people are anti-vaxxers, and it causes a lot of anxiety for pharmacists and patients.

"It's very important that we feel that we can discuss vaccine hesitancy with patients.

"It's really important that pharmacists feel confident about that and that there's heaps of tools and resources available for people to do that and to upskill in the area of vaccine hesitancy and the types of interactions they can have with patients."

Meanwhile, in a bid to combat COVID-19 vaccine concerns, NSW Health Minister, Brad Hazzard, told ABC Breakfast this morning, "any vaccine that is approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration will be to the benefit of this country".