Rural community pharmacists' willingness to receive, administer, and recommend COVID-19 vaccines after the First U.S. vaccine rollout
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Vaccines remain the cornerstone for prevention of COVID-19. Particularly in rural areas, community pharmacists are among the most accessible healthcare professionals. Their advocacy for immunization can help overcome patients' vaccine hesitancy and close the disparity gap between rural and urban regions. This study explored factors influencing the willingness to recommend and administer COVID-19 vaccines among rural community pharmacists after the first U.S. vaccine rollout. A convenience sample of rural community pharmacists completed a selfadministered, validated paper/online survey ( n = 86, 23.4% response rate). Measures included COVID-19 vaccination status, perceived benefits of offering COVID-19 immunization services at the pharmacy, and willingness to recommend and administer COVID-19 vaccines. Descriptive, bivariate, and multivariate statistics were used to analyze potential nonresponse bias, survey responses, and associations between variables as appropriate. Alpha was set at 0.05. The proportion of pharmacists who were vaccinated against COVID-19 was 79.1%. Over 75% of participants were in favor of recommending COVID-19 immunizations to eligible family members and patients and almost 85% agreed that they would administer COVID-19 vaccines to their patients. Most pharmacists perceived COVID-19 immunization services to be beneficial, such as attracting more patients into the pharmacy (81.2%), increasing pharmacy revenue (75.3%), and enhancing relationships with local clinics/public health agencies (74.1%). COVID-19 vaccination status and the perceived benefit of offering immunization services at the pharmacy were significantly associated with pharmacists' willingness to recommend and administer COVID-19 vaccines. The relatively high rates of COVID-19 vaccination uptake and the strong willingness of rural community pharmacists to recommend and administer COVID-19 vaccines, after the first national vaccine rollout, were encouraging. The findings underscore the importance of engaging rural community pharmacists in efforts to prepare for and respond to future pandemics and public health crises. • COVID-19 vaccine acceptance post-first national vaccine rollout was explored. • Most pharmacists were vaccinated against COVID-19. • Influenza vaccination history was associated with COVID-19 vaccine uptake. • Prior vaccination linked to willingness to recommend/administer COVID-19 vaccines. • Rural community pharmacists view offering immunization services positively.
Language: English
Subfield: Health
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,800
OpenAlex ID: W4403117649