Public Health Interest of Vaccination Through Community Pharmacies: A Literature Review

Objective: This work has reviewed the scientific literature to evaluate the impact of vaccination through community pharmacies. Methods: A literature search was performed on the PubMed database, using the 2 MeSH search terms "pharmacist" and "vaccination". One hundred and eighty-four articles were screened based on various inclusion and exclusion criteria. Results: Analyzed studies showed an impact and potential benefits from pharmacy-based vaccination. Pharmacy-based vaccination can significantly increase vaccination coverage as pharmacists can overcome many barriers to vaccination, such as lack of access to physician's offices and appointment scheduling. Vaccination is also less expensive in pharmacies than in traditional vaccination services. Conclusion: Pharmacy-based vaccination allows an immunization target to be reached sooner and at a lower cost.