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“Make every contact count” is the key message from FIP as it launches a new vaccination handbook for pharmacists today. The handbook details the many ways in which pharmacists can contribute to improving vaccination coverage, such as supply chain and stock management, storage, record keeping, facilitation of appointments and administration of vaccines, but it also gives emphasis to their important educational and advisory role.
“Advocating vaccination should be part of the daily practice of community pharmacists. At this time of increasing levels of vaccine hesitancy, pharmacists should be equipped with proper training and tools to effectively communicate and provide evidence-based recommendations to populations in order to support vaccine uptake,” said Gonçalo Sousa Pinto, editor of the handbook and FIP’s lead for practice development and transformation. The handbook provides guidance on the implementation of a range of pharmacy vaccination services, guidelines on safety, and answers to frequently asked questions about vaccines.
“Not all of the roles described in the handbook are currently open to pharmacists in every country — for example, pharmacists’ access to vaccination records is still not mainstream practice worldwide — but with this handbook FIP aims to support the expansion and development of the roles of pharmacists in order to increase vaccination coverage across the globe,” Mr Sousa Pinto said.
The handbook is the latest addition to a range of resources developed by FIP to transform vaccination through pharmacy. Other recent resources in this programme of work by FIP to ensure pharmacy’s contribution to the World Health Organization Immunisation Agenda 2030 and the Global Vaccine Action Plan 2011–2020 include a collection of evidence and guidelines for the development of vaccination services, a report on the roles of pharmacy in vaccination, and a regulatory self-evaluation assessment tool for advancing pharmacy services in this area.