| Autor: |
Alrasheedy AA; Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi Arabia., Alharbi AT; Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi Arabia., Alturaifi HA; Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi Arabia., Alkhamis RA; Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi Arabia., Almazyad RS; Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi Arabia., Almozaini SS; Department of Pharmacy Practice, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Qassim, Saudi Arabia., Godman B; Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.; Department of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Garankuwa, Pretoria, South Africa., Meyer JC; Department of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Garankuwa, Pretoria, South Africa.; South African Vaccination and Immunisation Centre, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Garankuwa, Pretoria, South Africa. |
| Abstrakt: |
Community pharmacists were recently authorized to provide vaccination services in Saudi Arabia. However, the implementation is still limited. Consequently, this study aimed to assess the knowledge, beliefs, and views of community pharmacists in the Qassim region regarding vaccines and vaccination services and to identify the barriers to providing such services. A total of 170 community pharmacists participated in the study (response rate = 73.91%). The mean overall knowledge of vaccines and vaccination was 10.25 ± 1.35 out of a maximum score of 14. The majority stated that vaccines are rigorously tested for their safety (92.94%), go through a stringent approval process to ensure their quality and efficacy (93.53%), and vaccines play a key role in preventing and controlling infectious disease outbreaks (97.06%). However, only 48.82% were aware that community pharmacists are legally authorized to provide adult vaccination services. Few participants were also aware of the dosing of the varicella vaccine (14.12%) and indications of the herpes zoster vaccine (21.18%). The overall mean score on beliefs/views was 31.91 ± 5.53 out of a maximum of 40, indicating positive beliefs/views regarding vaccination services. The study identified many barriers to implementing vaccination services. These included lack of support staff and technicians in community pharmacies (79.41%), lack of requirements and equipment to provide the service (74.11%), the service will add extra workload (72.94%), and lack of formal certification in pharmacy-based immunization delivery (66.48%). Consequently, a holistic strategy is required to improve pharmacists' clinical knowledge of vaccines and to address the barriers to the implementation of vaccination services at community pharmacies. |
