Community pharmacy workforce willingness, readiness, and infrastructural capacity to deliver vaccination services: a cross-sectional survey in Nigeria.

Background: There is a growing need for community pharmacists to support universal health coverage by providing vaccination services to address low coverage, as they are among the most accessible healthcare professionals. In some Nigerian states, community pharmacists were trained in vaccination, but there are concerns about their capacity to enroll as vaccination service providers. This study evaluated the community pharmacy workforce willingness, readiness, and infrastructural capacity to deliver vaccination services in Nigeria.

Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study using a self-administered structured questionnaire among community pharmacists in Nigeria using a Google Form and administered through WhatsApp platforms. Descriptive statistics were performed on the collected data using SPSS statistical software, version 21.

Results: Of the 414 community pharmacists sampled, 395 (response rate = 95.4%) were retrieved and included in the final analysis. Although most community pharmacists did not currently practice vaccine administration in their pharmacies (n = 295, 74.9%), most were willing to start administering vaccines (n = 359, 91.3%), participate in routine and supplemental immunization services (n = 373, 95.4%), receive training related to vaccination (n = 374, 95.2%), and encourage patients to get vaccinated in their pharmacies (n = 367, 93.6%). Tetanus vaccine was the most common (n = 158, 40%) among the vaccines administered by the respondents. Infrastructure was inadequate in many critical areas: vaccine-specific equipment (n = 263, 67.8%), safety boxes (n = 216, 55.7%), medical waste bins (n = 178, 45.8%), portable vaccine refrigerators in case of power failures (n = 218, 56.1%), anaphylaxis response kit (n = 340, 87.4%), and anaphylaxis management guidance (n = 346, 88.9%). Barriers to the pharmacists' willingness to deliver vaccination services were inadequate funds to procure appropriate storage equipment (n = 269, 70.0%), inadequate training (n = 265, 69.1%), conflicts with other professionals (64.4%), concerns about patient safety (n = 185, 47.7%), and handling vaccines and disposal of sharps (n = 182, 47.4%).

Conclusions: Community pharmacists have indicated their willingness to embrace the advanced role of vaccine administration. The government and other healthcare stakeholders should address the infrastructural gaps and other barriers highlighted in the study to help improve vaccine access and availability.