The Pharmacist's Expanding Role in COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence

In "The Pharmacist's Expanding Role in COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence," moderator Jeff Goad, PharmD, MPH and Dr. Curlin close the series by looking at where the pharmacist's role goes from here.

In the series' closing episode, Dr. Jeff Goad asks Curlin how he sees the pharmacist's role in COVID-19 prevention continuing to evolve, given a shifting recommendation landscape, a growing set of vaccine platforms, and hesitancy that shows no sign of disappearing.

Curlin describes pharmacists as occupying a genuinely unique position within the healthcare system. They vaccinate patients independently, he notes, working throughout the community as well as inside larger healthcare centers. Clinicians consult with pharmacists regularly, Curlin adds, making pharmacists both frontline experts for patients and an important resource for other providers. He argues this dual role means pharmacists need current knowledge of available vaccine platforms, their features, and their side-effect profiles, so they can match the right option to each patient's specific health concerns.

Curlin identifies pharmacists' high level of patient trust as a second major asset. That trust positions them well to navigate difficult hesitancy conversations, he says, provided they build relevant conversational skills. He recommends pharmacists learn to distinguish between analytically minded patients, who respond well to data, and more heuristic thinkers, who respond better to shared values. Curlin offers examples: a patient motivated by naturalness might respond to framing vaccination as helping the immune system learn safely, much as natural exposure would. A patient motivated by personal freedom might respond to framing vaccination as protecting their autonomy from the restrictions that come with being sick.

Finally, Curlin points to pharmacists' broad view of each patient's overall health as an underused opportunity. Because pharmacists see patients for many health needs beyond COVID-19, he explains, they can bundle vaccine conversations into everyday interactions rather than treating them as a separate, isolated ask. Goad closes by thanking Curlin for a timely and practical conversation, one he hopes will help pharmacists supporting patients through this uncertain vaccine landscape.

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