The extension of vaccination against covid-19 and influenza to pharmacies has generated potential savings of 2.4 million euros for users and 310,000 hours of work for professionals in the SNS, reveals a study released today.
A study by the National Association of Pharmacies (ANF) assessed the impact of the participation of community pharmacies in the 2023/24 seasonal vaccination campaign, in collaboration with the National Health Service.
Carried out by the Center for Health Studies and Evaluation (CEFAR), the study, which is being presented today in Lisbon at the Conference ‘Seasonal Vaccination – There’s more Health in Pharmacy’, promoted by the ANF, also aimed to find out about the eligible population and the factors associated with vaccination intention and hesitancy, as well as assessing people’s satisfaction and the contribution of the pharmacies’ collaboration model to public health.
The results suggest that “the policy of extending vaccination to pharmacies has contributed to vaccination coverage, improved accessibility and territorial cohesion, with high levels of satisfaction among the population”.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, the president of the ANF, Ema Paulino, said that the study also analyzed “some savings indicators” for the SNS, and particularly for users due to the fact that, for the first time, they were able to choose where they wanted to be vaccinated this year.
Ema Paulino highlighted the estimated direct savings for users of around 2.4 million euros “in travel alone, including public transport, cars and cabs”.
She recalled that there were users who were eligible for flu vaccination who found it more difficult to travel to the health center due to its distance or opening hours, and who chose to go to the pharmacy, paying for the non-participated part of the vaccine and the vaccine administration service itself.
“So there was a saving for people who once again chose the community pharmacy as the place to be vaccinated against the flu, but who this year did not have to bear these costs,” following the collaboration between pharmacies and the SNS.
The study found “that a much higher percentage of people (around 55%) walked to the community pharmacy to get vaccinated”, compared to only 20% in the 2022/2023 vaccination season, he pointed out.
On the other hand, there were people who didn’t have to miss work, for example, to go to the health center to be vaccinated.
The president of the ANF also highlighted the impact of vaccination in pharmacies on the care activity of the SNS: “We estimate that pharmacies have freed up around 310,000 working hours of human resources in the National Health Service”.
“This represents 685 full-time resources over three months that would have been allocated to vaccination and could be redirected to other activities, namely in health centers, representing approximately 10% of the service’s capacity,” she stressed.
Ema Paulino also highlighted the results of the satisfaction study which showed that “more than 94% of the population agreed with this extension of vaccination to community pharmacies” and, in particular, with the proximity, the timetables “and also the trust in the health professional who administered the vaccines, which once again allowed Portugal to surpass the objectives in terms of vaccination coverage”, she stressed.
According to data from the Directorate-General for Health, 2,494,957 people were vaccinated against the flu, and 1,992,260 against Covid-19.
“It was a first year that went extremely well and the contribution of pharmacies is undeniable. We administered around 70% of the flu and covid-19 vaccines, but we intend to identify the main constraints and continue to combat, eventually, some vaccine hesitancy and some vaccine saturation particularly related to covid-19 vaccines,” said Ema Paulino.
