Greater Awareness Needed for Improving Pneumococcal Vaccine Hesitancy

When it comes to the administration of pneumococcal vaccines, there is a plethora of formulations and recommendations per patient population, making patients’ understanding of these vaccines difficult to keep up-to-date.

Pharmacists, however, are paramount in the administration of all vaccines—not just for protection against pneumococcal diseases.

To provide deeper insights into these vaccines and the common trends of hesitancy surrounding them, Drug Topics caught up with Megan Smith, clinical pharmacist and health coach with Food City. “A lot of hesitancy, I think, just comes from low awareness,” Smith told us. “A lot of people don't realize that they're eligible for the vaccine.”

With vaccine hesitancy stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, and only increasing since, providers across health care have been working to continue the promotion of vaccine safety and efficacy. However, vaccine dissenters have skewed the public’s understanding of immunization, making providers work extra hard to disseminate the proper information regarding vaccination.

For pneumococcal vaccines specifically, pharmacists and other providers may have to work twice as hard to promote these immunizations because of the fact they often take a back seat amid public health concerns toward other respiratory vaccines for COVID-19, flu, and others.

Learn from Smith on why pneumococcal vaccines, and the hesitancy that surrounds them, are just as important to address as other commonly circulating illnesses.

READ MORE: Pneumococcal Resource Center

Pharmacy practice is always changing. Stay ahead of the curve: Sign up for our free Drug Topics newsletter and get the latest drug information, industry trends, and patient care tips, straight to your inbox.