Community pharmacies surpass 40m Covid-19 vaccinations milestone

The CCA believes that community pharmacy can eventually become the “natural home for all vaccinations.”

A quarter of all Covid-19 vaccines administered to date in England were delivered by community pharmacies, the Company Chemist Association (CCA) has revealed citing Freedom of Information (FoI) data from NHS England.

Overall, the sector had administered 40,045,279 Covid-19 vaccines by the end of 2023, with 62 per cent of all vaccines administered in community pharmacies in December 2023.

According to the association, the data “reaffirms the ever-growing role pharmacy is playing in the Covid-19 vaccination programme.”

The CCA has calculated that pharmacies could administer an additional 10 million vaccination appointments per year.

Malcolm Harrison, Chief Executive of the CCA said: “Administering over 40m Covid-19 vaccines, a quarter of all vaccines to date, is a truly fantastic achievement by the sector. This is despite community pharmacy initially not being considered a major part of the programme.

This is further evidence of the track record pharmacies have in administering national vaccination programmes.”

Harrison added that community pharmacies can eventually become the “natural home for all vaccinations.”

The CCA has urged policymakers to explore the sector’s enhanced role and to design vaccination programme considering the needs of pharmacy businesses.

It highlighted the importance of integrating the National Booking System into existing pharmacy systems, reviewing the fee in light on the continued increased cost of business, and simplifying the site designation process.

Commenting on the sector’s success in the delivery of the Covid-19 programmes, Dr James Davies, Director of RPS in England, said: "This is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the hard work and dedication of the thousands of community pharmacists and pharmacy teams across the country.

“Pharmacies are at the heart of communities and expanding vaccination services will play a key role in reducing health inequalities, in particular in deprived areas where trusted local pharmacists have proven they can help address vaccine hesitancy.

“With the right support and resources, pharmacists are ideally placed to expand vaccination coverage, engaging with their local communities to boost uptake and support public health and disease prevention."

Acknowledging community pharmacy’s role in vaccinations, NHS England recently announced its decision to extend the Covid-19 vaccination programme until 31 August 2024 and offered an additional payment of £2.50 per jab if pharmacies would be willing to join the spring booster programme.