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Background Before the COVID-19 pandemic, most states limited administration of vaccines to trained pharmacists and pharmacy interns. In October 2020 due to the public health emergency, the Federal Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act (PREP Act) authorized qualified pharmacy technicians to administer vaccines nationally. Currently available research on the perception of pharmacy technician-administered vaccines is limited. Objectives The primary objective was to evaluate the perceptions of licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians regarding pharmacy technician-administered vaccines. The secondary objective was to analyze correlations between demographic data and the perceptions of respondents. Methods An anonymous, 24-question survey including 5-point Likert-scale and ranking type questions was distributed using Qualtrics® survey software to licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the state of Ohio. Results Total of 52,240 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians were invited to participate in the survey, 26,226 viewed the e-mail and 2179 responses were collected, yielding a response rate of 8.3%. Results showed 65.9% (n = 365) of pharmacists and 76.2% (n = 675) of pharmacy technicians agreed that trained pharmacy technicians should be able to administer vaccines post-COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion Licensed pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in the state of Ohio support the continued administration of vaccines by trained pharmacy technicians fostering the need for legislative change.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the acceptance rate of pharmacist recommendations in an interdisciplinary team for patients interviewed by the pharmacist versus those assessed by chart review. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: Interdisciplinary consultative team in an outpatient setting as part of a large academic health system provided care for "high utilizer" patients. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-five patients at moderate to high risk of hospitalization who completed their first appointment with the team between March 1, 2019, and December 30, 2019. Most patients were 65 years of age or older and all had Medicare insurance. INTERVENTIONS: A pharmacist completed a chart review for all patients. A cohort of patients were also interviewed. Recommendations were recorded in the electronic medical record, discussed with the team, and forwarded to the patient's primary care provider. RESULTS: A total of 253 recommendations were made by pharmacists, with a significantly higher acceptance rate for patients who completed an interview with the pharmacist (40.7% vs. 28.4%; P = 0.046). Patientspecific factors resulting in higher acceptance rates in the interview group included age younger than 65 years (P = 0.013), 10 to 19 medications (P = 0.004), and mental health diagnosis (P = 0.02). CONCLUSION: The addition of an interview to chart review allowed pharmacists to make recommendations that were more likely to be accepted and therefore more clinically impactful.

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