The role of pharmacists in vaccination should be greater

The flu season begins, another one in which the burden on the healthcare system will be not only the increased number of infections with this virus, but also the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As emphasized by prof. Adam Antczak, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the National Program Against Influenza, one should try to simplify the procedures related to vaccination.

- We are committed to relieving primary care. We would like to lead to a model in which a pharmacist can refer a vaccine to vaccination, dispense a drug and vaccinate a patient, he stressed.

According to the expert, it should be ensured that patients are now vaccinated not only against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but also against the flu. A dangerous threat is flurona, i.e. simultaneous infection with two pathogens. Adam Antczak recalled that flu vaccines are now fully available in Poland, and the Covid-19 vaccination program has entered the phase of administering a second booster.

Dr. n. farm. Mikołaj Konstanty, president of the Silesian Pharmaceutical Chamber, pointed out that the possibilities of vaccinating in pharmacies in Poland are much smaller than in other European countries. Polish pharmacists can vaccinate against Covid-19 and flu, while the vaccination catalog in British pharmacies has thirteen items, incl. against diphtheria or whooping cough. Polish pharmacists still cannot issue prescriptions for vaccines.

- I hope we can write vaccinations. Lengthening the patient's path to immunization by requiring a prescription issued by a doctor is a problem. Shortening this path could increase the popularity of vaccination. It is also important in the face of staff shortages among medics. Meanwhile, the potential of pharmacists is still untapped - noted Mikołaj Konstanty.

Virologist, dr hab. Tomasz Dziecistkowski from the Medical University of Warsaw, presented scenarios for the development of the Covid-19 situation in Poland and in the world. As he noted, the SARS-CoV-2 virus will not disappear and will continue to mutate. The biggest challenge in the coming years will be the problem of postovid complications. In third world countries, access to vaccines is much worse than, for example, in Poland. As a result, the vaccination rate is very low there. This means that it is in these regions that the greatest replication of the virus will be maintained, and it is there that new mutations will arise. According to Dr. Dzieścitkowski, it should be in our interest that the vaccines that are disposed of in our country should be transferred to poorer regions.