Expert Q&A: Hannaford's Vaccine Program Growth Fueled by Routine Integration, Technician Immunizer Expansion

In an interview with Pharmacy Times, Sara Lane, PharmD, manager of pharmacy clinical services at Hannaford Supermarket & Pharmacy, discussed how the company has grown its immunization program by standardizing vaccine services across locations and integrating vaccine conversations into every patient interaction. She noted a 10% increase in vaccinations from 2024 to 2025, along with the recent rollout of a new appointment scheduler offering a broader range of vaccine appointment types. Lane also highlighted Hannaford's technician immunizer program, which includes over 370 trained technicians who administered about 30% of the company's vaccinations last year—and more than 90% at its top-performing store. Looking ahead to National Immunization Awareness Month, she emphasized patient education for underserved populations and advised other pharmacies to build vaccine conversations into routine care rather than relying on seasonal campaigns.

The most successful vaccination programs don't solely rely on campaigns or a seasonal reminder or a certain time of year — it's really building that vaccine assessment and conversation into everyday clinical care and patient interaction.— Sara Lane, PharmD

Pharmacy Times: Hannaford's vaccine administration program has grown substantially—what were the key operational or workflow changes that made that growth possible across your store network?

Sara Lane, PharmD: I would say one of the biggest drivers of growth at Hannaford has been making immunizations a routine part of daily workflow, rather than a seasonal service, like it has been in the past. We've made it a more standardized process across all our locations to ensure we have expanded appointment options and that we're really integrating those vaccine conversations into every patient interaction.

Pharmacy Times: Can you point to specific metrics or outcomes (vaccination volumes, patient reach, new vaccine types offered, etc.) that illustrate the program's growth over the past few years?

Lane: Our immunization program at Hannaford—our growth has been seen in a couple of different areas. Last year, in 2025, we had about 10% growth in vaccinations over 2024, and that's one specific metric that shows our growth. We're continuing to increase our vaccination services after the jump that a lot of people experienced during the pandemic, so we continue to see people coming to the pharmacy and looking for those services. Additionally, we just rolled out a new vaccine appointment scheduler that has a broader range of appointment types for patients, so they can see the full list of services we have available. We're excited to have that in place for the upcoming season.

Pharmacy Times: What role has staff training or scheduling flexibility played in scaling vaccine services without overburdening pharmacy teams?

Lane: Training and workforce development has been critical to our success at Hannaford, and we've invested heavily in our technician immunizers—it’s a program that I'm very proud of. We have a couple of pharmacists on staff who are faculty trained through APHA to host and teach the immunizer course offered through APHA. Hannaford, as a company, pays for the immunization training for our technicians, and currently we have over 370 technician immunizers at Hannaford, so that's really a big piece that helps our program move forward. Our top immunizing store last year had over 90% of the vaccines administered at that location completed by technicians, and as a company, last year in 2025, about 30% of our vaccinations were administered by technicians. So, some pretty impressive numbers, and a program that we're really proud of continuing and supporting.

Pharmacy Times: With August marking National Immunization Awareness Month, what initiatives or messaging is Hannaford rolling out to boost awareness and encourage patients to get caught up on recommended vaccines?

Lane: Our messaging is focused on helping patients understand what vaccines they may be eligible for or what's recommended for them. We find a lot of patients just might not know what vaccines they are recommended to receive, and so we're really trying to focus on those populations that might not be coming into the pharmacy as frequently or might not have as many touchpoints with their health care providers, to ensure we can help educate them and make them aware of some opportunities they have to get that protection.

Pharmacy Times: For pharmacists at other health systems or retail chains looking to grow their own immunization programs, what's one piece of practical advice you'd give based on what's worked at Hannaford?

Lane: My advice would be to make vaccination discussions a natural part of every patient interaction. I think the most successful vaccination programs don't solely rely on campaigns or a seasonal reminder or a certain time of year—it’s really building that vaccine assessment and conversation into everyday clinical care and patient interaction.