Community pharmacist-administered seasonal influenza vaccination: a national customer survey

BACKGROUND: In Switzerland, the influenza vaccination is recommended for high-risk groups and people who have contact with high-risk groups. Since 2015, Swiss pharmacists are allowed to vaccinate healthy adults after acquiring a certificate of competence for vaccination and blood sampling techniques. We aimed to assess customers of the seasonal influenza vaccination in pharmacies in regard to their satisfaction, motivation, and reasons. METHODS: Swiss pharmacies collected survey data during a period of 12 weeks from mid-October 2019 to mid-January 2020. Each participating pharmacy was sent 20 questionnaires to be handed out to vaccinated customers. The questionnaire was available in German and French and subdivided into four sections: demographic information, satisfaction, reasons for getting the vaccination, and reasons for choosing a pharmacy as a place of vaccination. We tested for statistical differences in answer tendencies across strata on questionnaire language, age groups, and levels of education. RESULTS: Of the 1600 surveys sent, 80 pharmacies sent back 656 completed questionnaires (return rate, 41%). Main age bracket was 65–74 years (26.2%), followed by 55–64 years (24.7%), with an equal distribution of reported sex (female, 49.5%). Of the respondents, 99% would have recommended the service and 88.5% felt very comfortable being vaccinated by a pharmacist. Satisfaction included injection technique, used facilities, preparatory discussions, and pricing of the service. Easy scheduling was a main motivation for choosing a pharmacy as the vaccination provider. We identified minor differences in answer tendencies across questionnaire language and age groups, but not across levels of education. CONCLUSION: Customer satisfaction with community pharmacist-administered seasonal influenza vaccinations is high in Switzerland.