PHARMACY

Pharmacists aim for the percentage of people vaccinated against flu and covid-19 to be as high as possible and, therefore, at the end of October, for the third year, they activated an alert system to inform citizens of the importance of vaccines as a preventive measure to guarantee public health. In addition, this initiative promoted by the Council of Professional Colleges of Pharmacists of Castilla y León (Concyl), in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, allows monitoring the progress of the vaccination campaign, knowing the opinion about vaccines among the population and delving deeper on the effects of inoculations.

In a month of activity (this year it began later than the vaccination campaign), pharmacy professionals contacted more than 37,000 Palencia residents, with whom they practiced a health education exercise and the promotion of collective immunization. And they did so in the target population thanks to a tool developed by Concyl and integrated into Sacyl’s electronic prescription, which identifies whether the client is part of a population group with a higher risk of complications for which health authorities recommend vaccination. On this occasion, the list is larger, since new target profiles were incorporated, such as the age stratum of babies from six to 59 months, and other risk groups, such as smokers, as recalled by the Concyl.

Next, the person who runs the pharmacy asks you several questions. “In our intervention we ask whether or not you have been vaccinated against flu. If the answer is negative, we explain that you belong to a risk group and we give you the reasons why you should be vaccinated,” explains the president of the Official College of Pharmacists. of Palencia and secretary of the Council, José Luis Nájera. Of the 37,655 actions (approximately 9% of the total in Castilla y León), 20,011 served to make the user aware of the advantages of vaccination, although they did not inform if they were going to go to the health center and 3,494, to confirm that the client from the pharmacy did not want to be vaccinated. The vast majority (3,351) were adults, while the remaining 143 were children under five years of age. «When they show their rejection of vaccination, we point out the reasons. This is important to organize future vaccination campaigns,” declares Nájera.

At the regional level (there is no data by province), the most common excuses for not getting immunized are the lack of need to be vaccinated (50%), allergies to the components of the vaccine (14%) and the safety and side effects of the same (8%). Adverse reactions in the past, opposition to vaccines, doubts about their effectiveness, avoiding punctures and lack of time appear with lower percentages.

TWO NO, EIGHT YES. On the opposite side are the 10,101 people from Palencia (10,067 adults and 34 children) who were vaccinated before visiting the pharmacy. Among the elderly, 7,556 were protected from seasonal flu and coronavirus, 2,484 from flu only and 27 from flu and other viruses. Among the little ones, 20 were between six and 23 months old and 14 were between 24 and 59 months old. In both cases, the vaccine was flu. In this case, the president of the Official College of Pharmacists of Palencia explains that they ask about possible adverse reactions. «We talked about how the vaccine felt to them. “It’s one more way to look after your safety,” he adds.

The statistics are completed with the 4,049 people who are waiting to be vaccinated. Therefore, it could be said that out of every ten people from Palencia, almost two (specifically 19.8%) showed the pharmacist their refusal to be vaccinated in the first month that the Concyl alert system has been in operation and that just over eight ( 80.2%) did follow (or will soon follow) the advice of the health sector, which advocates mass vaccination. “The intervention of the pharmacist increases the vaccination rate, especially in the population aged 60 and 70, who have the lowest coverage,” he explains.

Finally, the Concyl announces that this year they will focus on monitoring vaccination in children, since this is the first time they appear as a target population.

2023-12-11 04:00:00
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