Developing Effective Pharmacy-led Vaccination Campaigns

The World Health Organization lists vaccine hesitancy—concerns related to vaccination or outright refusal to receive vaccines despite availability—as one of the top ten threats to global health in 2019. This threat is evidenced by recent outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases in many high-income countries and the sheer volume of disinformation circulating regarding the recently approved vaccines against novel Sars-Cov-2 virus.

Often times, “one-size-fits-all” vaccine promotion efforts can backfire when presented to individuals who are already sceptical of vaccines. This event will outline evidenced-based strategies for developing pharmacy-led immunization campaigns which communicate the value of vaccines to specific patient groups in order to build vaccine confidence and improve uptake.

Delivered in English with live translation in French and Spanish languages. 

Learning Objectives:
1. Understanding vaccine hesitancy and common reasons behind hesitancy
2. Developing a robust immunization campaign: steps and essential components
3. Assessing the success of immunization campaigns and importance of continuing advocacy

Moderator:
- Amy Chan, Senior Clinical Research Fellow, and Lead of the Academic Practice Unit
University of Auckland, and Auckland District Health Board - New Zealand

Panellists:
- Jane Barratt, Secretary General, International Federation on Ageing - Canada
- Gary Finnegan, Editor, Vaccines Today - Ireland
- Velisha Perumal-Pillay, Senior lecturer, University of KwaZulu-Natal - South Africa