Pharmacy Training Crucial for Addressing Distrust in Vaccines

Despite the advancements in vaccine technology and an expansion in access through events like the COVID-19 pandemic, public distrust in routine immunizations persists, otherwise known as vaccine hesitancy. While these narratives continue to circulate among the general public, industry experts believe it’s up to all pharmacy employees to understand how to communicate with patients and provide them with trusted clinical advice.

“I think [it involves] training providers and the frontliners, even the pharmacy technicians and the cashiers, on how to handle patients who have this mistrust, and how to have the pharmacist talk to them, utilizing techniques like motivational interviewing, asking the open-ended questions, finding the real reason people are worried about vaccines,” Hashim Zaibak, PharmD, CEO of Hayat Pharmacy, told Drug Topics.

As an independent pharmacy owner and operator for over a decade, Zaibak joined Drug Topics to discuss the evolution of vaccine hesitancy, misinformation surrounding the issue, and ways to galvanize pharmacy employees to correct these narratives. While it was the COVID-19 pandemic that highlighted community pharmacies as a key destination for receiving vaccination, it was the same time period where mistrust and hesitancy toward immunization began heightening.

Learn how a well-established independent pharmacy is upholding standards as the most accessible health care providers while also combating feelings of vaccine hesitancy among their community.

READ MORE: Immunization Resource Center

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