World Immunization Week: Pharmacist Education, Collaboration Strengthen Vaccination Efforts

Staying current with vaccine recommendations is one of the most persistent challenges in pharmacy practice. With new approvals, updated schedules, and shifting public health priorities emerging on a near-constant basis, the pressure on pharmacists to remain informed while managing a busy dispensing environment has never been greater.

“Professional interactions are crucial because they can also help pharmacies to attain collaborative practice agreements with physicians. Most of the states legally require that in order to have prescribing authority,” Nathan Ott, PharmD, pharmacy manager at Food City, told Drug Topics®. “I’ve found collaboration and vaccine clinics lead to increased vaccination awareness, goodwill in the community, new patients for your pharmacies, and even increased revenue.”

From pneumonia vaccines rolling out what feels like every other year to the complexities of identifying which patients are actually due for which shots, the immunization landscape demands both ongoing education and smart use of the collaborative tools available to navigate it.

In our interview with Ott, he breaks down the practical strategies he relies on to stay ahead of those challenges—including how state immunization registries, CDC-backed apps like PneumoRecs VaxAdvisor, and targeted continuing education can help pharmacists reduce errors and better serve their patients.

He also makes a compelling case for why building relationships with physicians, health departments, and local employers isn't just good community practice; it's a proven path to stronger vaccination awareness.

READ MORE: Pharmacists Continue to Serve as Frontline Immunization Administrators

Drug Topics: What role does ongoing pharmacist education—either for the pharmacist themselves or the patients they serve—play in staying current with vaccine recommendations and effectively guiding patients?

Nathan Ott: The rapid changes in vaccine approvals and changes in recommendations present significant challenges, especially [for] retail pharmacists. We’re very busy and we don’t often have time to stay up to date. Continuing education (CE) can be one of the many useful tools that we use to stay up to date. Many states require immunization-specific CE to maintain vaccination authority. I think it’s a good idea for all immunizers to incorporate at least one such CE into license renewal every couple of years. Really, whether required to or not, [this is] just to reinforce up-to-date knowledge and reduce errors.

The Georgia Registry of Immunization Transactions and Services—they really wanted that acronym to be GRITS; it’s kind of hilarious—that is one of our most important tools here in the state of Georgia. It not only tracks each vaccination given within the state, but it also tells where there might be gaps in patient vaccinations compared with current recommendations. Most states now have a similar immunization tracking registry that pharmacists can easily access. Now, records are sometimes incomplete, but the registries can help us to generate those conversations with specific patients that are most likely to need a vaccine.

I’ve also found the PneumoRecs VaxAdvisor app, which is posted on the CDC website, to be very helpful in navigating the confusing pneumonia vaccines. We seem to get a new pneumonia vaccine about every year or 2. With those rapid approvals, every time we have new changes to who is due for what and when. That app can help to clear up some of that confusion with just 3 quick questions. Of course, regularly following a pharmacy news publication such as Drug Topics can also really help pharmacists stay current with all those developments.

Drug Topics: In what ways can pharmacists collaborate with physicians, public health agencies, and community organizations to build stronger vaccination awareness campaigns, and how important are these connections?

Nathan Ott: Community connections can lead to vaccine clinics, which in my opinion, those are the best ways to push awareness. Health departments tend to do a significant number of community clinics and they may be able to help point you towards potential opportunities to get involved. Many employers are often receptive to the idea of hosting vaccine clinics on-site, if you can contact the right person, usually in the human resources department. Getting these contacts can often start by just getting to know your patients. Where do they work, does their employer currently hold a flu shot clinic, and who can we contact to set one up?

Collaboration with physicians and public health can also help to solve one of the most challenging issues in vaccination: inventory management. In our community, most physicians only order a handful of flu vaccines each year. They rarely stock shingles, pneumonia, or COVID vaccines, just because of the high cost and the high likelihood that many of those will go out of date. Health departments, on the other hand, usually stock everything, including less commonly used vaccines such as those administered before overseas travel. Their big issue, though, is inconvenience involved and making that extra stop or traveling to another town over to go to the health department.

Collaboration can really help everyone to know who stocks what and how patients can most easily get their vaccines. Doctors around here will often forward shingles, pneumonia, and COVID vaccinations to pharmacies. Everyone forwards rare vaccine needs to the health departments and less vaccines go out of date in the back of the fridge as a result. These professional interactions are crucial because they can also help pharmacies to attain collaborative practice agreements with physicians. Most of the states legally require that in order to have prescribing authority. I’ve found collaboration and vaccine clinics lead to increased vaccination awareness, goodwill in the community, new patients for your pharmacies, and even increased revenue.

READ MORE: Immunization Resource Center

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