Vaccination strategies will not be universal and fully successful until the global challenge of vaccine hesitancy is adequately addressed, FIP said today at the start of World Immunisation Week.

It added that pharmacists’ accessibility, expert knowledge, trust by populations and frequent interactions with patients make them uniquely positioned to engage in meaningful conversations and tackle vaccine hesitancy. The federation has today committed to advocate the widespread utilisation of pharmacists to build vaccine confidence and address vaccine hesitancy and complacency, disinformation and misinformation around the world. The commitment follows the publication last year of FIP’s toolkit for pharmacists “Building vaccine confidence and communicating vaccine value”.