Rural community pharmacists' willingness to receive, administer, and recommend COVID-19 vaccines after the First U.S. vaccine rollout
Introduction: 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...
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Elsevier
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667276624001173 |
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| author | Sura O. AlMahasis Brent Fox David Ha Jingjing Qian Chih-hsuan Wang Salisa C. Westrick |
| author_facet | Sura O. AlMahasis Brent Fox David Ha Jingjing Qian Chih-hsuan Wang Salisa C. Westrick |
| author_sort | Sura O. AlMahasis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Introduction: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusion: 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. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-dbace972497b40b99894c586cceca1d7 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2667-2766 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy |
| spelling | doaj-art-dbace972497b40b99894c586cceca1d72025-08-20T02:20:57ZengElsevierExploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy2667-27662024-12-011610052010.1016/j.rcsop.2024.100520Rural community pharmacists' willingness to receive, administer, and recommend COVID-19 vaccines after the First U.S. vaccine rolloutSura O. AlMahasis0Brent Fox1David Ha2Jingjing Qian3Chih-hsuan Wang4Salisa C. Westrick5Department of Health Outcomes Research and Policy, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA; Health Services Research in Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USADepartment of Health Outcomes Research and Policy, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USAStanford Antimicrobial Safety and Sustainability Program, Stanford Healthcare, Palo Alto, CA, USADepartment of Health Outcomes Research and Policy, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USADepartment of Educational Research, Measurement, and Assessment, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USADepartment of Health Outcomes Research and Policy, Harrison College of Pharmacy, Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA; Corresponding author at: Department of Health, Outcomes Research and Policy, Harrison College of Pharmacy, 4306 Walker Building, Auburn, AL 36849, USA.Introduction: 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. Methods: 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. Results: 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. Conclusion: 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.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667276624001173COVID-19 vaccineVaccine acceptanceVaccine hesitancyPharmacistCommunity pharmacyRural |
| spellingShingle | Sura O. AlMahasis Brent Fox David Ha Jingjing Qian Chih-hsuan Wang Salisa C. Westrick Rural community pharmacists' willingness to receive, administer, and recommend COVID-19 vaccines after the First U.S. vaccine rollout Exploratory Research in Clinical and Social Pharmacy COVID-19 vaccine Vaccine acceptance Vaccine hesitancy Pharmacist Community pharmacy Rural |
| title | Rural community pharmacists' willingness to receive, administer, and recommend COVID-19 vaccines after the First U.S. vaccine rollout |
| title_full | Rural community pharmacists' willingness to receive, administer, and recommend COVID-19 vaccines after the First U.S. vaccine rollout |
| title_fullStr | Rural community pharmacists' willingness to receive, administer, and recommend COVID-19 vaccines after the First U.S. vaccine rollout |
| title_full_unstemmed | Rural community pharmacists' willingness to receive, administer, and recommend COVID-19 vaccines after the First U.S. vaccine rollout |
| title_short | Rural community pharmacists' willingness to receive, administer, and recommend COVID-19 vaccines after the First U.S. vaccine rollout |
| title_sort | rural community pharmacists willingness to receive administer and recommend covid 19 vaccines after the first u s vaccine rollout |
| topic | COVID-19 vaccine Vaccine acceptance Vaccine hesitancy Pharmacist Community pharmacy Rural |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667276624001173 |
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