CONTACT: Frank Fortin
202.223.7189; ffortin@aphanet.org

More than three quarters of pharmacists plan to be vaccinated with one of the COVID vaccines, and 60% will be set up and ready to vaccinate patients as soon as the vaccine is available, in a recent nationwide survey of 400 pharmacists conducted by the American Pharmacists Association.

When pharmacists were asked if they plan to be vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine:

• 52% said they would receive the vaccine as soon as possible
• 17% said they would receive it after six months of experience with the vaccine
• 9% said they would receive after one year of experience with the vaccine
• 17% said they were undecided
• 6% said they would not receive it

In a similar survey of pharmacists conducted two months earlier, only 36% of pharmacists said they would receive the vaccine as soon as possible.

The majority of responding pharmacists (60%) also said their pharmacy practices would be ready to administer the vaccines as soon as they are available:

• 37% said they are currently ready to receive the vaccine and vaccinate patients as soon as the vaccine is available
• 23% said they were in the final preparation stages and will be ready to vaccinate patients as soon as the vaccine is available
• 34% said they were not prepared to vaccinate in the first wave of vaccination efforts, but plan to participate in future phases
• 6% said the logistics of participation are too difficult and would not participate 

The survey also found:

• 74% of pharmacists surveyed were willing to order and administer the vaccine. Only 2% said they were unwilling to order or administer the vaccine, and 3% were undecided. The balance of respondents stated that they do not provide direct patient care and thus would not vaccinate.
• 70% of respondents said the support staff at their pharmacy practice location is adequate to safely offer the COVID-19 vaccine
• 95% said they had already received, or plan to receive, the influenza vaccine

The survey was sponsored and conducted by the American Pharmacists Association from November 21-28, 2020, with 400 respondents. Pharmacists across many types of practice sites participated, principally in chain pharmacies, supermarket pharmacies, independent pharmacies, and hospital and institutional pharmacies.