Increasing coverage of vaccination by pharmacists in Nigeria; an urgent need

Public Health Pract (Oxf). 2021 Jun 5:2:100148. doi: 10.1016/j.puhip.2021.100148. eCollection 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Pharmacists have a key role to play to advance public health through immunization. Pharmacists are well trained and play a huge role in vaccine production, research and development, safety, pharmacovigilance, storage, logistics and distribution. There is a need for a revised national policy and strategy in Nigeria on vaccination and immunization programs with the involvement of community pharmacies and/or pharmacists. This will help accelerate getting a wider vaccination access coverage, establishing a greater healthcare delivery workforce for societal benefits and demonstrate the full potential of the community pharmacies and the pharmacists' role in immunization programs.

Keywords: Community pharmacies; Immunization; Nigeria; Pharmacists; Vaccination; Vaccine.