Achieving Influenza Vaccine Uptake Target in Canada via a Pharmacy-Led Telephone Discussion during the 2019-2020 Season.

William David Strain,William A Fisher,Michael Boivin,James Mansi,Constantina Boikos

doi:10.3390/vaccines9040312

Abstract

Older adults (≥65 years) are at elevated risk of influenza-related morbidity and mortality. Many developed countries do not achieve the World Health Organization influenza immunization target of 75% in people ≥65 years. We aimed to determine whether a brief pharmacy phone call could increase vaccine uptake of standard and enhanced influenza. Twenty-eight community pharmacists across Canada performed a telephone consultation with 643 older adults whose primary care records indicated that they had not received their influenza vaccination from their usual practitioner. Of these 643 adults, 169 (26.3%) had been vaccinated in another setting. Of the remaining 474, 313 (66%) agreed to receive the vaccine. Of those who refused vaccination, 69 provided a rationale for not wanting it, including that the flu shot “causes the flu” (n = 25), “doesn’t work” (n = 25), “is too painful” (n = 10), and other (n = 10). Overall, of the 643 individuals who had not received their vaccination from their usual health care provider in the first wave of vaccinations, 75.4% (n = 485) ultimately received their vaccination in the 2019–2020 season. This highlights the important role of the community pharmacist in achieving the World Health Organization (WHO) targets for vaccination.

Highlights

The National Advisory on Immunization (NACI) estimates that there are an average of 12,200 hospitalizations related to influenza and approximately 3,500 deaths attributable to influenza annually in Canada [1]
Six hundred and forty-three individuals were identified, all of whom were at risk for severe influenza disease based on their age (≥65 years) and the lack of a pharmacy record of influenza immunization at the time the telephone call was placed
Individuals were contacted predominantly at the “tail end” of the vaccination season in order to target those who did not respond to initial invitations from their primary care physicians, from 7 October 2019 until 26 January 2020 (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

The National Advisory on Immunization (NACI) estimates that there are an average of 12,200 hospitalizations related to influenza and approximately 3,500 deaths attributable to influenza annually in Canada [1]. Public Health England estimates that, on average, 17,000 people have died of influenza in England alone annually since 2014. National immunization programs across the world prioritise achieving optimal influenza vaccination coverage in older and vulnerable adults [1,3,4]. In this connection, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that 75% of those 65 years of age and older receive an influenza vaccine [5]. The United States, Canada and the United Kingdom have not achieved these targets [7,8,9,10,11,12]

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