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

Background: Canada’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.

Methods: A “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.


Results: Analysis 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).

Conclusion: A 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.