J Am Pharm Assoc (2003). 2022 Mar-Apr;62(2):461-467.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2021.10.019. Epub 2021 Oct 21.
For a vaccine to be successful, communities must perceive it as important, safe, effective, and necessary. However, there are many barriers and hesitancies to vaccination. Underserved patient populations may face additional challenges related to access and cost. Because community pharmacists improve vaccine access and increase vaccination rates, it is beneficial for pharmacists to understand perceptions and barriers to vaccinations in their community to increase vaccine confidence.
This study aims to assess and compare barriers and perceptions of the annual influenza to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine for underserved patients of a charitable pharmacy.
Patients who qualified to receive medications from an outpatient charitable pharmacy took an electronic survey when receiving medications. The survey incorporated questions developed by the World Health Organization's Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Vaccine Hesitancy on a 5-point Likert scale. Questions about the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines mirrored one another. Demographic data such as age, race, sex, and education level were also collected.
Of the 189 patients surveyed at the charitable pharmacy, 71.7% were 55 years old and older and 58.9% were female. Of note, 78% and 77% of participants agreed or strongly agreed that the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines, respectively, were important for the health of others in their community. Adverse effects and the cost of the COVID-19 vaccine were noted to be statistically significantly more of a concern with the COVID-19 vaccine than that of the influenza vaccine (P < 0.001).
Ensuring equitable vaccine access, promoting the COVID-19 vaccine as free, and eliciting and addressing individual persons' concerns related to vaccine safety and adverse effects are all important ways pharmacists and other health care providers and community stakeholders can help promote vaccine confidence within the populations they serve.
为了使疫苗成功，社区必须认为它是重要的、安全的、有效的和必要的。然而，接种疫苗存在许多障碍和犹豫。服务不足的患者群体可能面临与获得途径和成本相关的额外挑战。由于社区药剂师可以改善疫苗的获取途径并提高疫苗接种率，因此药剂师了解社区对疫苗的看法和障碍对于增强疫苗信心是有益的。
本研究旨在评估和比较弱势患者对慈善药房的年度流感疫苗和 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）疫苗的看法和障碍。
在接受药物治疗时，符合从门诊慈善药房获得药物资格的患者接受了电子调查。该调查采用了世界卫生组织疫苗犹豫战略咨询专家组开发的问题，采用 5 点李克特量表进行评估。关于流感和 COVID-19 疫苗的问题相互呼应。还收集了年龄、种族、性别和教育水平等人口统计数据。
在慈善药房接受调查的 189 名患者中，71.7%的患者年龄在 55 岁及以上，58.9%的患者为女性。值得注意的是，分别有 78%和 77%的参与者表示，流感疫苗和 COVID-19 疫苗对于社区中其他人的健康都很重要。COVID-19 疫苗的副作用和成本被认为比流感疫苗更令人担忧（P < 0.001）。
确保公平获得疫苗，宣传 COVID-19 疫苗是免费的，并了解和解决个人对疫苗安全性和副作用的担忧，这些都是药剂师和其他医疗保健提供者以及社区利益相关者在他们服务的人群中增强疫苗信心的重要方法。
