Lessons learned from 2 years of influenza vaccinations in the UK and USA during the COVID-19 pandemic as respiratory viruses return.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, immunization programs for other respiratory infections, notably influenza continued worldwide but attracted less public or political attention than COVID-19 vaccinations. Due to non-pharmaceutical intervention measures the global influenza burden decreased substantially; but with lifting of restrictions a rebound in other respiratory virus pathogens is both plausible and likely. This article discusses lessons identified from the UK and USA, and provides recommendations for future influenza vaccination programs in light of emerging data from the southern hemisphere and the need for harmonization with COVID-19 vaccination, focusing on operational delivery and messaging to practitioners and the public.

Shared clinical decision making on vaccines: Nothing has really changed for pharmacists.

Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices has begun utilizing a new recommendation known as "Shared Clinical Decision-Making." This recommendation from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention calls upon health care providers, including pharmacists, to have more engaged conversations with patients regarding their vaccine needs. This commentary is designed to provide pharmacists with clarifications on the intent behind this terminology, and dispel myths that have frequently been attributed to the category of recommendation.

Pharmacist insights into adolescent human papillomavirus vaccination provision in the United States.

HPV vaccination coverage in the United States (US) falls short of the Healthy People 2020 goal of 80% coverage among 13-15 year-old adolescents. Pharmacies are a promising alternative vaccine delivery site that may increase access to HPV vaccination. Our objective was to assess pharmacists' insights into HPV vaccination provision to adolescents.

National survey of pharmacy-based immunization services.

Introduction: Pharmacists in the United States (U.S.) are authorized to administer vaccines.

Pharmacist authority to provide HPV vaccine: novel partners in cervical cancer prevention.

Objectives: While the provision of cervical cancer prevention services in the United States has expanded to new settings beyond clinics that give Pap smears, prevention efforts are being hampered by relatively low human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine coverage. Pharmacies are an underused setting to deliver HPV vaccine. To better understand this opportunity, we sought to classify pharmacists' authority to administer HPV vaccine in each US state.

Extending the reach: local health department collaboration with community pharmacies in Palm Beach County, Florida for H1N1 influenza pandemic response.

Objective: Palm Beach County Health Department (PBCHD) in Florida collaborated with pharmacists, community pharmacies, and pharmacy-based retail health clinics to increase access to influenza prevention through a widespread H1N1 influenza vaccination campaign and to disseminate timely and accurate public health recommendations and information using Flu Ready Cards. Selected pharmacy and store managers were surveyed, before and after distribution of H1N1 vaccine regarding issues facing pharmacists and the public in deciding whether or not to recommend or accept influenza vaccinations.

Participants: Palm Beach County Health Department collaborated with Walgreens and CVS pharmacies, Publix and Winn-Dixie Super Market Pharmacies, and the Palm Beach County Pharmacy Association.

How effectively can health care settings beyond the traditional medical home provide vaccines to adolescents?

Objectives: Our goal was to evaluate the capacity of various health care settings to supplement the activities of the traditional medical home by delivering vaccines to adolescents.

Methods: A group of experts in the fields of adolescent-immunization delivery and the provision of preventive care in various health care settings summarized the available literature, considered setting-specific factors, and assessed the ability of various health care settings beyond the traditional medical home to conform to the immunization quality standards set by the National Vaccine Advisory Committee, report vaccination information for the quantitative assessment of vaccine-coverage rates, be likely to offer vaccines to adolescents, and be viewed by adolescents as acceptable sites for receiving vaccinations.

Results: Seven candidate settings were evaluated: pharmacies, obstetrics-gynecology practices, sexually transmitted disease clinics, hospital emergency departments, family planning clinics, teen clinics, and local public health department immunization clinics.

Pharmacist involvement with immunizations: a decade of professional advancement.

Objective: To review achievements in pharmacist-administered immunizations, emphasizing the period 1995 to 2004.

Data Sources: Published articles identified through PubMed (1995-2004) using the search terms pharmacist, pharmacy, and vaccine, immunization, or shots. Additional sources were identified from personal bibliographies collected by the authors during this decade, as well as the bibliographies of the retrieved articles.

Pharmacists' opinions regarding level of involvement in emergency preparedness and response.

Objective: To assess opinions of pharmacist-members of the American Pharmacists Association Academy of Pharmacy Practice and Management (APhA-APPM) regarding the appropriate level of pharmacists' involvement in emergency preparedness and response activities and to determine whether opinions differed according to demographic characteristics.

Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive, Web-based survey.

Setting: United States.