Background
There is a growing need for community pharmacists to contribute to universal health coverage through vaccination services due to their being one of the most accessible healthcare professionals and low vaccination coverage. In some Nigerian states, community pharmacists were trained in vaccination, but there are concerns about their capacity to enroll as vaccination service providers. This study evaluated the community pharmacy workforce's willingness, readiness, and infrastructural capacity to deliver vaccination services in Nigeria.
Methods
We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study using a self-administered structured questionnaire among community pharmacists in Nigeria through online platforms. Descriptive statistics was performed on the collected data using SPSS statistical software, version 21.
Results
Of the 414 community pharmacists sampled, 395(response rate = 95.4%) were retrieved and included in the final analysis. Although most community pharmacists did not currently practice vaccine administration in their pharmacies (n = 295, 74.9%), most were willing to start administering vaccines (n = 359, 91.3%), participate in routine and supplemental immunization services(n = 373, 95.4%), receive training related to vaccination (n = 374, 95.2%), and encourage patients to get vaccinated in their pharmacies (n = 367, 93.6%). Tetanus vaccine was the most common ( n = 158, 40%) among the vaccines administered by the respondents. Infrastructure was inadequate in many critical areas; vaccine-specific refrigerators(n = 222, 57.1%), temperature monitoring equipment (n = 263, 67.8%), safety boxes (n = 216, 55.7%), medical waste bins (n = 178, 45.8%), portable vaccine refrigerators in case of power failures(n = 218, 56.1%), anaphylaxis response kit (n = 340, 87.4%), and anaphylaxis management guidance (n = 346, 88.9%). Barriers to the pharmacists’ willingness to deliver vaccination services were inadequate funds to procure appropriate storage equipment (n = 269, 70.0%), inadequate training (n = 265, 69.1%), conflicts with other professionals (n = 246, 64.4%), concerns about patient safety (n = 185, 47.7%) and handling vaccines and disposal of sharps (n = 182, 47.4%).
Conclusions
Community pharmacists are willing to embrace the advanced role of vaccine administration. The government and other healthcare stakeholders should address the infrastructural gaps and other barriers highlighted in the study to help improve vaccine access and availability.