Pharmacists want to offer flu vaccinations

The East Flemish pharmacists association Kovag and the Belgian Pharmaceutical Association (APB) have asked for the legal right for pharmacists to give flu vaccinations to customers.

Currently, patients must ask their general practitioner (GP) for a prescription, go to the pharmacy for the medication and then go back to the GP for the shot to be administered. According to pharmacists, this procedure is too complicated.

If they could administer the shots themselves, “more people would receive the vaccination, and the population will be better protected against the flu epidemic coming this winter,” said Kovag president Geert Heungens.

Pharmacists in other European countries are already offering flu shots, such as in Portugal, Ireland and the UK. Rates of immunisation have increased as a result. But Belgian GP association Domus Medica said that a lack of knowledge of patients’ medical backgrounds are an obstacle in changing the system.

“GPs know their patients best,” said a Domus Medica spokesperson. “A GP is also available after normal work hours for patients who can only come to get their shots then.” Domus Medica did acknowledge that the procedure should be easier.

In a reaction, APB emphasised that it doesn’t want to exclude GPs. “We want to open a debate on how to organise the system to better reach certain target groups,” explained APB president Jan Depoorter. He also said that pharmacists would need to undergo training in the procedure.

Photo: Isaac Arjonilla/ZUMA Press/Corbis