By Jill Sederstrom
Patients would save both time and money if neighborhood pharmacies could administer more adult vaccines. However, state-level regulations remain a significant barrier to achieving this goal.
According to the study released by the Pacific Research Institute, reforming federal laws to allow pharmacists to administer all the vaccinations recommended by the CDC would be a significant benefit to public health.
“It’s the policy that becomes the barrier and the policy is basically at the state level,” economist Wayne Winegarden, PhD, the study’s author and a senior fellow for the Pacific Research Institute, tells Drug Topics.
He said inconsistency across state regulations and policies in regard to vaccinations present significant challenges for large national chains that must sort through and comply with multiple standards and policies. Smaller, independent pharmacies can also face challenges, particularly in states that require more complex protocols or a doctor’s prescription prior to receiving a vaccine.
“It’s the red tape, especially at the community pharmacies where you don’t have the infrastructure or the personnel to be messing around with excessive regulations,” he says. “That’s where it could be most impactful.”
