Pharmacist Administered Flu Vaccine Increased Uptake Among Older Adults
Researchers wanted to address the potential impact of pharmacist-led influenza immunization services on vaccine uptake in older adults living in Denmark.
Upon discovering a mean annual increase of influenza vaccination coverage rates (VCRs), researchers determined that pharmacist administered immunization services have the potential to significantly improve vaccine coverage among older adults.
“For adults who do not have routinely scheduled doctor visits (for example for chronic care check-ups), clinic-based influenza vaccination may entail an additional clinic visit, an inconvenience that may deter vaccine uptake,” wrote authors of a study published in Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy.1 “Since many people live or work near a community-based pharmacy, pharmacist-administered vaccination may improve access to vaccination, as suggested by a 2021 meta-analysis that found this approach was significantly associated with higher influenza VCRs compared with clinic-based administration.”
Researchers wanted to collect data that will quantify the success of Denmark's vaccination policy change and inform other countries or territories looking to boost influenza VCRs. | image credit: onephoto / stock.adobe.com
As the role of the pharmacist in health care continues to evolve in real time, many industry advocates have spoken to the important role pharmacists play in public health.
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From February 2020 through September 2022, pharmacies administered over 270 million COVID-19 vaccines with another 8.1 million for long-term care residents.2 Furthermore, well beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, pharmacists have also administered over 37 million influenza vaccines from August 2024 to April 2025, according to CDC data.3
While the aforementioned statistics speak to the evolution of pharmacists and their role in immunization in the US, researchers of the current study focused on Denmark because of the country’s recent policy changes regarding vaccination. While many studies have shown the success of pharmacist-administered vaccines in the US, researchers wanted to see how these services would be reflected in a country that just began allowing pharmacists to administer vaccines in 2015.
“In Denmark, vaccinations are primarily administered through general practitioners and, since the 2015 policy change, at certified pharmacies. The universal nature of Denmark’s health care system ensures that all eligible individuals can receive vaccination without financial barriers, whereas in the US, socioeconomic factors and insurance status can impact access,” they continued.1 “Given these differences, further research is needed to evaluate pharmacy-based vaccination in the Danish context. To address this gap, the current study leveraged national vaccination surveillance data to evaluate the effect of expanded, pharmacy-based access to influenza vaccines on VCRs among older adults in Denmark.”
With Denmark’s policy change in 2015 allowing for pharmacy vaccine services, the researchers wanted to collect data that will quantify the success of the policy change and inform other countries or territories looking to boost VCRs.
Conducting an interrupted time series analysis, they assessed the past, present, and future of Denmark’s policy implementation. With 2009 to 2014 influenza VCR data serving as the baseline, 2015 was considered the “interruption event” due to Denmark’s policy change, and 2016 to 2019 constituted the post-interruption period where pharmacists began vaccinating.
“Our modeling findings indicate that the mean annual change in the influenza VCRs among older adults was nearly 3 percentage points higher after authorization of pharmacist-implemented vaccination than during the pre-policy period,” wrote the authors.1 “This finding is consistent with those of multiple meta-analyses reporting that, compared with standard care, uptake of influenza vaccine is significantly higher when pharmacists are involved in the vaccination process.”
In Denmark, the older adult population—the same at-risk group encouraged to receive pharmacist-administered vaccines—saw a steady decline in VCR from 2009 to 2015. But once the pharmacist-related vaccine policy was implemented, VCR increased by 8.3% from 2015 to 2019. For younger populations at less risk of influenza or flu-related hospitalizations, VCR more than doubled during the post-interruption period.
As mentioned in previous studies that the researchers have explored, Denmark is yet another example of pharmacists’ ability to increase vaccination coverage and ultimately make vaccines more accessible. While this instance is only regarding 1 type of vaccine, studies like this will be referenced as more and more researchers look to pharmacists’ expertise in assisting public health initiatives.
“Pharmacist-administered vaccination may be an effective strategy to increase influenza VCRs among older adults,” concluded the authors.1 “Continued research regarding the barriers and facilitators of pharmacist-administered vaccination will be critical to drive policy change to optimize this strategy, ensuring safe and convenient vaccination that benefits both older adults and pharmacy providers.”
READ MORE: Influenza Resource Center
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