S3, Ep 7- How the COVID-19 Pandemic Enhanced the Role of Pharmacists in the Immunization Process

The COVID-19 pandemic led to an increased role of pharmacies in the overall immunization process, as they served as key sites of administration for COVID-19 vaccines. The IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science and the Global Healthy Living Foundation (GHLF) released a report today to better understand the trends in vaccine administration in the United States. “[The report is] built into the evidence of how we can address equity, where patients want to get their care, and what are the policy solutions that are important for us to pursue to make our healthcare system more equitable among everyone,” says Dr. Robert Popovian, Chief Science Policy Officer at GHLF. In this episode, Dr. Popovian discusses the key findings of the report, from the enhanced role of pharmacies in the overall immunization process in the U.S. to the differences in vaccine administration site by gender, income, or race. Among the highlights in this episode: 1:56: “90% of the U.S. population lives within a five-mile radius of a retail pharmacy,” says Dr. Popovian 3:23: What led to the partnership between IQVIA and GHLF in developing the report 4:28: A deeper look at the key factors and changes in vaccine administration that were analyzed 5:19: “What the trends tell us is that overwhelmingly adult patients received their [COVID] vaccines in a pharmacy after the pandemic took place… But we also saw some trends where there was an increased flu vaccination in the pharmacies in the last two flu cycles,” says Dr. Popovian 6:42: The trends in pediatric vaccine administration 7:31: Dr. Popovian discusses differences in vaccination trends as they pertain to race and ethnicity 8:20: “Minorities, whether they're racial minorities, or ethnic minorities, have a very limited access to health care compared to white Americans… So if we want to maintain access for patients who are minorities, we need to ensure that pharmacies, pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians at some point are able to administer all vaccines that a physician, for example, or a provider can administer in their office. That is critical,” says Dr. Popovian   9:58: Dr. Popovian elaborates on the policy recommendations that GHLF and IQVIA put forward in response to this report’s findings 12:45: Dr. Popovian shares some final thoughts 14:17: Please find below the two reports mentioned by Dr. Popovian Accessibility of adult immunizations in pharmacies compared to physician offices in low-income communities (Published on March 30, 2022) - Journal of the American Pharmacists Association (JAPhA)/GHLF: https://www.japha.org/article/S1544-3191(22)00094-2/fulltext Trends in Vaccine Administration in the United States (Published on January 18, 2023) - IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science/GHLF: https://www.iqvia.com/insights/the-iqvia-institute/reports/trends-in-vaccine-administration-in-the-united-states Contact Our Hosts Dr. Robert Popovian, Chief Science Policy Officer at GHLF: [email protected] Conner Mertens, Patient Advocate and Community Outreach Manager at GHLF: [email protected] We want to hear what you think. Send your comments, or a video or audio clip of yourself, to [email protected] Listen to all episodes of Healthcare Matters on our website or on your favorite podcast channel.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.