PHARMACY STORY

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Vaccine hesitancy continues to be a barrier to Covid-19 vaccination during this COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Henry, a pharmacist at CVS, as well as a preceptor for students on IPPE and APPE rotations, provided opportunities to her students to address vaccine hesitancy. Her students were able to travel to various Covid-19 vaccine clinics, many of which were in rural, low-income communities with patients experiencing language barriers. This not only allowed for the students to practice vaccinating, but it also provided an opportunity for the students to counsel the patients on what to expect from the vaccine as far as side effects and address any issues surrounding vaccine hesitancy. 

During many of these clinics, the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy partnered with the College of Public Health and through a collaborative mobile health unit, faculty, students, and volunteers were able to provide efficient and effective vaccination services, all while creating a healthier community and protecting as many people as possible from coronavirus. There were plenty of Spanish interpreters at each clinic, and, considering that 31% of Arizona’s population is Hispanic, this allowed for a more comfortable and relaxed experience for the patients receiving vaccinations. Through this interprofessional teamwork, the environment created for the patients was one that was warm, welcoming, and safe. 

While some of these clinics may not have vaccinated large numbers of community members,  Dr. Henry, her students, and volunteers from both colleges were able to travel to the patient rather than expecting the patient to travel to the provider. One specific example of this was a vaccination clinic that took place at Hickman’s Egg Farm. Bringing the Covid-19 vaccination clinic to the patient allowed for the patient to worry less about taking time out of his or her day, or worse, taking a whole day off work, to go get the vaccine. Instead, the patient was able to just take 20-30 minutes out of his or her workday to go get the vaccine and then promptly return to work. 

Although this story does pertain to vaccinating the public against Covid-19, the teamwork used, and the effort put in to creating a friendly environment can be something to strive for at any communal location when healthcare providers are interacting with the public. Effective counseling, whether it be for a patient picking up a new prescription, or, in this case, answering questions about a vaccine, is an essential skill to have and be able to practice whenever possible. This will allow for a healthier and safer community overall and create trusted patient-provider relationships.