CPHS training pharmacists to become certified immunizers

In North Carolina, Campbell University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences has been working to train pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and students in vaccine administration through their continuing education programs. In doing so, they’re increasing the number of medical professionals authorized to administer the COVID-19 vaccine.

“We’ve had the opportunity to train over a hundred at this point since December. Just about every one of those individuals that participated was doing it to be able to help the community with a vaccine rollout, which is a real testament to the profession of pharmacy in North Carolina,” said Dr. J. Andy Bowman, director of Continuing Professional Education and assistant professor of Pharmacy Practice at Campbell University. “Additionally, we have been training our pharmacy students during our curriculum to give immunizations for a number of years. Pharmacy students didn’t always get trained to be immunizers — that’s something new that pharmacy schools all over the country are doing now. As long as they are supervised by a pharmacist that is an immunizer, the students can help in the rollout of these vaccines — not only at the big events that you see happening in the civic centers, arenas, and hospitals, but also in a community pharmacy practice setting.”

Bowman has personally seen the drive from the medical community to help out in any way they can, and many of the healthcare professionals seeking vaccination authorization have already been in the workforce for decades.

“It’s a really unique situation due to the federal U.S. Department of Health and Human Services PREP Act. We now have a mandate that pharmacy technicians can participate as vaccinators, so we have been involved in that training,” Bowman said. “We’ve had two groups now, and we’ve also been training pharmacists that didn’t get that training when they were in pharmacy school.”

While demand for vaccines will be increasing, the work Campbell University and other institutions are doing will help expand the workforce in response.

ABBEY SLATTERY, WRAL DIGITAL SOLUTIONS