23. Did You Pneu?: Impact of an Adult Pneumococcal Immunization Campaign Across Independent Community Pharmacies

Abstract

BackgroundCanada’s pneumococcal immunization goal for adults 65 years and older aims to achieve 80% coverage, yet uptake is only 58% in this population. Barriers include lack of awareness and lack of recommendations by healthcare providers. A pneumococcal immunization campaign was designed to address barriers and increase vaccine uptake from independent community pharmacies.MethodsA “Did You Pneu?” pneumococcal immunization campaign was developed by a pharmacist at the head office of an independent community pharmacy banner. The campaign consisted of pharmacist educational materials, in-pharmacy marketing materials, and pharmacy operational supports (Figure 1). In November 2018, a month-long in-pharmacy campaign was carried out across the banner. Feedback collected from pharmacists via telephone interviews was used to inform updates to campaign materials for the November 2019 campaign. A convenience sample of ten independent community pharmacies located across Ontario was selected for a retrospective observational analysis of pneumococcal vaccine purchases from January 2017 to December 2019.Figure 1. “Did You Pneu?” campaign toolkit showing pharmacist educational materials, in-pharmacy marketing materials, and pharmacy operational supports developed and distributed across a banner of independent community pharmacies as part of an adult pneumococcal immunization campaign. ResultsAnalysis of ten independent community pharmacies revealed an increase in the total number of pneumococcal vaccines purchased in November in years a campaign took place compared to baseline. The total number of pneumococcal vaccines purchased in November increased 23% during the first campaign and another 213% during the second campaign (13 vs. 16 vs. 50 vaccines purchased in November 2017, 2018, and 2019, respectively).Increased vaccine uptake was also observed in months subsequent to the in-pharmacy campaign. Analysis of ten independent community pharmacies revealed a 47% increase in the mean number of pneumococcal vaccines purchased per month by the banner (8.8 mean number of pneumococcal vaccines purchased per month twelve months pre-implementation vs. 12.9 twelve months post-implementation).ConclusionA comprehensive pneumococcal adult immunization campaign implemented across a banner of independent community pharmacies led to immediate and sustained increases in vaccine uptake. As pharmacists have a role in promoting adult pneumococcal immunizations, advocacy efforts should be undertaken to include pharmacists in publicly funded immunization programs.DisclosuresTiana Tilli, PharmD, RPh, ACPR, Pfizer Canada Inc. (Grant/Research Support, Speaker’s Bureau)