Immunization Guide for Pharmacists

Our pharmacist team at Osterhaus Pharmacy has been providing immunizations to our patients for the past 2 decades. However, in the past 3 years we have become more proactive in our approach to discussing immunizations.

Life-saving vaccines have had a profound impact in this country and worldwide. According to the CDC, from 2006 to 2017, almost 3.5 billion doses of vaccines were distributed in the United States.

The goal of the Healthy People initiative is to “provide science-based, 10-year national objectives for improving the health of all Americans.”

Ironically, it is often during times when vaccine-preventable disease rates are lowest that public opposition to them is most pervasive, and this certainly seems to be the case with contemporary antivaccination movements in the United States.

The immunization status of pregnant and lactating women should be routinely assessed, and indicated vaccines should be recommended.

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is spread through contact with infected blood or bodily fluids, usually passing into a host via damaged skin (eg, lesions, needlesticks) or mucous membranes, such as the eyes or genitalia.

According to the World Health Organization, 240 vaccines were in development for 25 infectious diseases.5 Topping the list for most candidate vac- cines are HIV/AIDS, malaria, pneumococcal infec- tions, tuberculosis, and Ebola.