Impact of pharmacist administration of influenza vaccines on uptake in Canada

BACKGROUND: Uptake of influenza vaccination in Canada remains suboptimal despite widespread public funding. To increase access, several provinces have implemented policies permitting pharmacists to administer influenza vaccines in community pharmacies. We examined the impact of such policies on the uptake of seasonal influenza vaccination in Canada. METHODS: We pooled data from the 2007-2014 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (n = 481 526). To determine the impact of influenza vaccine administration by pharmacists, we estimated the prevalence ratio for the association between the presence of a pharmacist policy and individual-level vaccine uptake using a modified Poisson regression model (dependent variable: vaccine uptake) with normalized weights while controlling for numerous health and sociodemographic factors. RESULTS: Across all survey cycles combined, 28.8% of respondents reported receiving a seasonal influenza vaccine during the 12 months before survey participation. Introduction of a policy for pharmacist administration of influenza vaccine was associated with a modest increase in coverage (2.2%) and an individual's likelihood of uptake (adjusted prevalence ratio 1.05, 95% confidence interval 1.02-1.08). INTERPRETATION: Uptake of influenza immunization was modestly increased in Canadian jurisdictions that allowed pharmacists to administer influenza vaccines.