AlMahasis Sura O, Fox Brent, Ha David, Qian Jingjing, Wang Chih-Hsuan, Westrick Salisa C
Department of Health Outcomes Research and Policy, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA.
Health Services Research in Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA.
Explor Res Clin Soc Pharm. 2024 Oct 5;16:100520. doi: 10.1016/j.rcsop.2024.100520. eCollection 2024 Dec.
Vaccines remain the cornerstone for prevention of COVID-19. Particularly in rural areas, community pharmacists are among the most accessible healthcare professionals. Their advocacy for immunization can help overcome patients' vaccine hesitancy and close the disparity gap between rural and urban regions. This study explored factors influencing the willingness to recommend and administer COVID-19 vaccines among rural community pharmacists after the first U.S. vaccine rollout.
A convenience sample of rural community pharmacists completed a selfadministered, validated paper/online survey ( = 86, 23.4% response rate). Measures included COVID-19 vaccination status, perceived benefits of offering COVID-19 immunization services at the pharmacy, and willingness to recommend and administer COVID-19 vaccines. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistics were used to analyze potential nonresponse bias, survey responses, and associations between variables as appropriate. Alpha was set at 0.05.
The proportion of pharmacists who were vaccinated against COVID-19 was 79.1%. Over 75% of participants were in favor of recommending COVID-19 immunizations to eligible family members and patients and almost 85% agreed that they would administer COVID-19 vaccines to their patients. Most pharmacists perceived COVID-19 immunization services to be beneficial, such as attracting more patients into the pharmacy (81.2%), increasing pharmacy revenue (75.3%), and enhancing relationships with local clinics/public health agencies (74.1%). COVID-19 vaccination status and the perceived benefit of offering immunization services at the pharmacy were significantly associated with pharmacists' willingness to recommend and administer COVID-19 vaccines.
The relatively high rates of COVID-19 vaccination uptake and the strong willingness of rural community pharmacists to recommend and administer COVID-19 vaccines, after the first national vaccine rollout, were encouraging. The findings underscore the importance of engaging rural community pharmacists in efforts to prepare for and respond to future pandemics and public health crises.
疫苗仍然是预防新冠病毒病（COVID-19）的基石。特别是在农村地区，社区药剂师是最容易接触到的医疗保健专业人员之一。他们对免疫接种的宣传有助于克服患者对疫苗的犹豫态度，并缩小农村和城市地区之间的差距。本研究探讨了在美国首次推出疫苗后，影响农村社区药剂师推荐和接种COVID-19疫苗意愿的因素。
采用便利抽样法，让农村社区药剂师完成一份自行填写的、经过验证的纸质/在线调查问卷（n = 86，回复率为23.4%）。测量指标包括COVID-19疫苗接种状况、在药房提供COVID-19免疫接种服务的感知益处，以及推荐和接种COVID-19疫苗的意愿。根据情况，使用描述性、双变量和多变量统计分析潜在的无应答偏倚、调查回复以及变量之间的关联。设定α值为0.05。
接种过COVID-19疫苗的药剂师比例为79.1%。超过75%的参与者赞成向符合条件的家庭成员和患者推荐COVID-19免疫接种，近85%的人同意会为患者接种COVID-19疫苗。大多数药剂师认为COVID-19免疫接种服务有益，例如吸引更多患者到药房（81.2%）、增加药房收入（75.3%）以及加强与当地诊所/公共卫生机构的关系（74.1%）。COVID-19疫苗接种状况以及在药房提供免疫接种服务的感知益处与药剂师推荐和接种COVID-19疫苗的意愿显著相关。
在首次全国疫苗推出后，COVID-19疫苗接种率相对较高，农村社区药剂师推荐和接种COVID-19疫苗的意愿强烈，这令人鼓舞。研究结果强调了让农村社区药剂师参与为未来大流行和公共卫生危机做准备及应对工作的重要性。
