For the past few years, I have visited a pharmacy and paid cash (it's a privilege) to receive my annual flu shot as part of American Pharmacists Month (APhM). It gives me a chance to visit with the staff of local pharmacies in the Washington, DC, area and hear about the experiences that shape their daily practice.

On October 22, I visited the Neighborhood Pharmacy of Del Ray in Alexandria, VA, where I received my flu shot from the co-owner and Pharmacist-in-Charge, Stacey Swartz, PharmD. As you can see in this photo, her student pharmacist on rotation from Shenandoah University, Arsen Dadja, even showed his APhM pride by wearing his APhM T-shirt under his normal business attire.

The Neighborhood Pharmacy has a great team serving the Del Ray community and it was a pleasure to visit them all. Hats off to them for their exemplary practice, and despite the sour face in the photo, it didn't hurt a bit!
 

Amazingly, we now have more than 230,000 pharmacists trained to immunize in the United States. Last year, about 20% of vaccines were provided by pharmacists. Clearly, pharmacists are walking the walk and getting themselves immunized too. Immunizers, be proud!