THE rapid national rollout of pharmacist vaccinations over the last two years has fundamentally changed public perceptions about the role of community pharmacy.
That's a key conclusion drawn by Guild executive director David Quilty in his regular Forefront update yesterday, where he said consumers were increasingly seeing their local community pharmacy as a broader health destination.
"Pharmacist vaccination now has a gathering momentum...a number of states and territories have expanded the scope, with Qld adding measles and whooping cough; South Australia has recently announced it is going further, by extending the vaccination authority for pharmacists to include measles, mumps, rubella, whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus and polio...other states and territories are likely to follow suit," Quilty wrote.
He noted health insurers were beginning to subsidise pharmacist vaccinations, and hailed the work of the Guild and PSA in developing nationally accredited training.
Quilty said vaccinations in community pharmacies should be integrated into the broader health system, electronically recorded, uploaded into the Australian Immunisation Register and included on the My Health Record.
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