Report card on routine vaccinations for seniors gives poor grades to provinces and territories

An advocacy group for Canadian seniors gave provinces and territories poor grades in accessibility and funding of routine immunizations for older people. CanAge distributed the grades in a new report comparing current provincial and territorial policies with recommendations made by the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI). Grades were based on if vaccines were funded, easily accessible for seniors and publicized to the general public. Read: PEI to cover shingles vaccines for seniors Most jurisdictions scored a D or D-, with Alberta and Yukon managing a C and Ontario and Prince Edward Island scoring a B. Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador both got failing grades. The vaccines studied were those recommended for adults by NACI: influenza, including the high-dose influenza vaccine pneumococcal polysaccharide 23-valent or pneumococcal conjugate 13-valent recombinant zoster vaccine (RZV) Tdap (tetanus, diptheria and pertussis) CanAge produced a similar report last year. “We were surprised to see how poor we actually do on routine and regular adult vaccinations,” said Laura Tamblyn Watts, CEO of CanAge. In their grading system, CanAge gave points to jurisdictions that allowed pharmacists or pharmacy technicians to administer routine adult vaccines without a prescription. Extra points were given if there was no fee to the recipient. The report only looked at publicly available information from the provincial and territorial governments. It notes that the recommended vaccine for shingles, RZV, is only fully funded in Ontario, P.E.I., and the Yukon. The federal government’s non-insured health benefits program also funds it, making it available to Indigenous Canadians. Even then, the funding is limited, with coverage for Ontario and through the federal government only for ages 65 to 70, when NACI recommends it for all adults older than 50. While every province and the Yukon allows pharmacists to administer influenza vaccines, only in Alberta, B.C., Manitoba, and Quebec can pharmacists give all seniors the pneumococcal vaccine, the report states. Read: Vaccinations – what to tell your patients about those other shots besides COVID19 When asked to comment on the report, the Canadian Pharmacists Association said that pharmacists could play a bigger role in providing routine vaccinations to adults. They noted that the uptake of the flu vaccine increased when it became available at pharmacies. “While pharmacists can play an important role in improving vaccine access and uptake for all Canadians, improving access to routine vaccinations for seniors is a key area where pharmacy can be better utilized,” the Canadian Pharmacists Association said in a written statement to Pharmacy Practice + Business. For pharmacy to play a bigger role, a number of challenges and barriers need to be addressed, the association said. “We need to recognize the increased demand for vaccination at the pharmacy and support it with appropriate allocation of supply, better integrate pharmacy into public health planning/discussion/promotion and facilitate the broader participation of pharmacy with harmonized vaccine authorities and funding,” the Canadian Pharmacists Association said. While many the provinces offer high-dose flu vaccine to seniors over the age of 65, Tamblyn Watts said CanAge heard reports of pharmacies not getting the vaccines when ordered, or not getting enough supply. “Pharmacists need help, they can’t be left alone or not remunerated for their time or their help, and they also need to get the vaccines that they order,” she said. “Pharmacists need to be listened to more than they are.” Read: 4 million and counting: Alberta pharmacists hit top jabbers status CanAge gave a fifth of the score based on how well the governments informed older adults about the vaccines and their availability. B.C. and P.E.I. received top marks for how well they communicate to seniors about routine vaccinations. The CanAge report does not include data on the actual uptake of the vaccines, nor information from medical or pharmaceutical associations. Tamblyn Watts said that CanAge has meetings with all provincial and territorial governments to discuss the report. She said the organization will advocate for pharmacists to be able to give all the routine vaccines in pharmacies without having to charge and to be remunerated appropriately for their work. CanAge is also calling for an update to the National Immunization Strategy. “We have a lot of work to do, but this report shows very crisply exactly how each province and territory has done and gives specific advice on what they can do next as key priorities to raise their score next year,” she said. Another seniors' advocacy group, the Canadian Association for Retired Persons, has a long-standing campaign for better funding for routine immunization for seniors. Watch: Webinar on demand: Vaccination Updates for Pharmacists - Herpes Zoster

Report card on routine vaccinations for seniors gives poor grades to provinces and territories

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