Innovative partnership in Connecticut to expand health professional eligibility to administer COVID-19 vaccines

BACKGROUND: On December 7, 2020, the Acting Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) issued an order authorizing eligible health professionals to administer coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines provided they complete a vaccination training program. The University of Connecticut (UConn) School of Pharmacy was approached to collaborate with DPH to create a certification program to meet the needs of this order. OBJECTIVES: To use a unique, pharmacist-led practice model to increase the number of competent vaccinators to administer the COVID-19 vaccine and to reduce vaccine hesitancy with timely vaccine information. PRACTICE DESCRIPTION: A didactic and in-person training program was developed, with an evaluation completed by a vaccination-certified pharmacist. In addition, faculty members, staff, and students developed short videos answering questions about COVID-19 vaccines. PRACTICE INNOVATION: We are aware of no other such programs using pharmacists and student pharmacists as primary creators of training and certification of health professionals to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. EVALUATION METHODS: Success was gauged by the rapid increase in the number of eligible health professionals who completed the developed training program and became certified as COVID-19 vaccinators. When addressing vaccine hesitancy, success was defined by the number of videos created and the number of views and likes the videos received. RESULTS: As of April 30, 2021, 1834 health professionals registered to administer the COVID-19 vaccine. A total of 1195 (65%) participants completed the online training developed by pharmacists, and 872 participants (48%) attended pharmacist-led, in-person competencies. As of July 29, 2021, efforts resulted in 14,972 views and 257 “Likes” for 79 videos promoted through social media platforms. CONCLUSION: A partnership between the Connecticut DPH and the UConn School of Pharmacy allowed the rapid increase in capacity to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to citizens of Connecticut. Patients are receptive to accessing health information that pharmacists create on social media.