Houle Sherilyn K D, Timony Patrick, Waite Nancy M, Gauthier Alain
Can Pharm J (Ott). 2022 Aug 5;155(5):258-266. doi: 10.1177/17151635221115183. eCollection 2022 Sep-Oct.
Pharmacist-administered immunizations have been associated with improved vaccination rates; however, little is known about whether areas with little to no access to this service ("vaccination deserts") exist. The objective of this work is to determine the geographic availability of pharmacists with authorization to administer injections in the province of Ontario.
Ontario College of Pharmacists registry data were used to identify patient care-providing pharmacists in community pharmacies and their ability to administer injections. Their number of hours worked was converted into full-time equivalents (FTEs), assuming 40 hours per week represents 1 FTE. Practice site(s) were mapped by postal code and presented by Public Health Unit (PHU) area. Communities within PHUs were further categorized as urban or rural and northern or southern, with ratios of FTEs per 1000 population calculated for both injection-trained and non-injection-trained pharmacists.
In total, 74.6% of Ontario's practising community pharmacists are authorized to provide injections. Northern PHUs had slightly better access to pharmacist injectors (0.61 FTEs/1000 overall vs 0.56/1000 in the south), while rural communities had lower availability (0.41 FTEs/1000) than urban communities (0.58 FTEs/1000). PHUs with greater population size and density had greater availability of pharmacist immunizers, while PHUs with greater land area were more likely to not have any immunizing pharmacists present ( < 0.001 for all).
As pharmacists increasingly become preferred vaccination providers, awareness of disparities related to access to pharmacy-based immunizations and collaboration with public health and primary care providers to address them (e.g., through mobile vaccination clinics) will be required to ensure equitable access. 2022;155:xx-xx.
由药剂师实施免疫接种与提高疫苗接种率相关；然而，对于是否存在很少或几乎无法获得此项服务的地区（“疫苗接种荒漠”）却知之甚少。这项工作的目的是确定安大略省有注射授权的药剂师的地理可及性。
利用安大略省药剂师学院登记数据，确定社区药房中提供患者护理的药剂师及其注射能力。假设每周工作40小时为1个全时当量（FTE），将他们的工作小时数换算成全时当量。通过邮政编码对执业地点进行映射，并按公共卫生部门（PHU）区域呈现。PHU内的社区进一步分为城市或农村、北部或南部，并计算每1000人口中接受过注射培训和未接受过注射培训的药剂师的FTE比率。
总体而言，安大略省74.6%的执业社区药剂师有提供注射服务的授权。北部公共卫生部门接触药剂师注射服务的机会略多（总体为每1000人有0.61个FTE，而南部为每10,00人有0.56个FTE），而农村社区的可及性（每1000人有0.41个FTE）低于城市社区（每1000人有0.58个FTE）。人口规模和密度较大的公共卫生部门有更多的药剂师免疫接种人员，而土地面积较大的公共卫生部门更有可能没有任何免疫接种药剂师（所有情况均P<0.001）。
随着药剂师越来越成为首选的疫苗接种提供者，需要意识到与基于药房的免疫接种可及性相关的差异，并与公共卫生和初级保健提供者合作以解决这些差异（例如，通过移动疫苗接种诊所），以确保公平可及。2022；155：xx-xx。
