Workforce Preparation for Fall Immunization Season Starts Now

It’s midsummer, and your fall vaccine order is already in. Influenza and seasonal vaccination administration are just a few short months away. When you start to see those advertisements for back-to-school sales, it’s time to start heading to the starting line. The annual sprint (or is it a marathon?), which spans from roughly September to early December, isn’t that far off, and now is the time to take a few key next steps.

Human Capital and Orderly IT Systems Are Key to Successful Immunization Season

Most pharmacy operations rely primarily on people, information technology (IT), and computer systems. Scheduling staff, scheduling patients, billing pharmacy benefit managers (or health plans if reimbursement is better), and performing immunization gap lookups are key to making the fall a successful immunization season. If you don’t already have a system that automatically checks your state’s immunization registry for patient gaps in influenza and COVID-19 vaccinations for other nonseasonal vaccination opportunities, ask for it now. It’s a no-brainer to have a computer suggest what your staff should tell patients. Even more helpful, systems can often check multiple states’ registries. Of course, asking the patient whether they have received their immunizations is still prudent, but the likelihood of catching a gap and helping the patient stay healthy rises significantly when technology is involved.

In the Thick of Summer Vacations, What About Fall?

Right now, the pharmacy staff at your location are likely juggling summer vacations. Coming off the popular Fourth of July weekend for our nation’s 250th birthday and into weeklong trips to national parks or visits with the grandparents, many staff members may be hundreds of miles away or more, and, hopefully, your coverage was well planned. You need to do the same for the fall—now. Not in August or September, but in anticipation of immunization volume and flow, and particularly busy days of the week.

Business Intelligence: Use Your Data to Prepare

Your scheduling window doesn’t start when you anticipate your highest volumes of vaccination visits, however. It starts a few weeks prior, when you are building out data to tell you who gets prescriptions at your pharmacy and who received vaccinations last fall. You might target patients with respiratory and other conditions for phone outreach, or use automated systems with text and interactive voice response to reach everyone. You might even add a note reminding patients filling prescriptions in August to schedule vaccinations, or provide a simple reminder of your convenient, affordable, and effective immunization services.

Assign Roles and Use Staff to Engage Patients

Don’t just schedule staff to work the bench and the immunization queue. Build roles, such as the scheduling lead, storage and handling lead, outreach champion, data miner, compliance lead, and others, to distribute work based on the skills (and availability) of various workforce members.

Keeping Pharmacies Afloat

Don’t drop the ball. Immunizations account for roughly 10% of gross margin but a much larger share of net profit. Vaccine spreads are more generous than average, and administration fees are billable for most patients.¹ With $40,000 to $90,000 on the table for the average pharmacy, it’s worth spending a few hours prior to the dog days of summer to prepare.²

About the Author

Troy Trygstad, PharmD, PhD, MBA, is executive director of CPESN USA, a clinically integrated network of more than 3500 participating pharmacies. He received his PharmD and MBA degrees from Drake University and a PhD in pharmaceutical outcomes and policy from the University of North Carolina. He has recently served on the board of directors for the Pharmacy Quality Alliance and the American Pharmacists Association Foundation.

REFERENCES

1. Meara K, Mitchell G. Importance of vaccination to independent pharmacy profitability | AAP 2025. Drug Topics. April 17, 2025. Accessed June 29, 2026. https://www.drugtopics.com/view/importance-of-vaccination-to-independent-pharmacy-profitability-aap-2025

2. Pharmacist-administered immunizations: an opportunity for $40,000 in added revenue? PrimeRx. Accessed June 29, 2026. https://www.primerx.io/blog/new-pharmacy/pharmacist-administered-immunizations/