The Health and Social Care Committee (“HSCC”) have recommended that pharmacists play a ‘critical role’ in the delivery of vaccinations within the UK to improve vaccination access. Whilst agreeing with the Director of Market Access and Policy Affairs of Moderna, Stuart Carroll that pharmacists ‘deliver a significant number of vaccines already’, the HSCC agreed that there was scope for pharmacists to deliver further vaccines in the community.
Within the inquiry into prevention of ill-health in the UK, the HSCC highlighted the low vaccination rates within England in particular and felt it ‘unacceptable’ that members of the public were unable to take advantage of vaccinations due to factors such as time and location. This, of course, comes at a time when cases of measles are on the rise in London owing to low MMR vaccination take up, part of the NHS Routine Childhood Immunisation Programmme.
Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the Company Chemists’ Association (“CCA”) stated the CCA wanted to see community pharmacy involved in all vaccination programmes to help drive uptake and free up a further 10million GP vaccination appointments annually. Meanwhile, Laura Wilson, Director for Scotland at the Royal Pharmaceutical society stated that “pharmacies are at the heart of communities and expanding vaccination services will reduce health inequalities. This is especially the case in deprived areas where trusted local pharmacists have proven their ability to address vaccine hesitancy in their communities.”
In conjunction with the HSCC’s recommendation, and with a view to easing the pressure on the NHS, the International Pharmaceutical Federation has suggested that undergraduate pharmacy programmes incorporate vaccination education and training within the undergraduate curriculum. Currently, pharmacists in Great Britain undertake additional training to provide vaccinations and must revalidate their training on a regular basis.
