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A Company Chemists’ Association (CCA) report has revealed that community pharmacies delivered more than half of all COVID-19 vaccines given to Black/Black British, Asian/Asian British and mixed ethnicity groups in the spring 2024 vaccination programme.
In the report — ‘Learning from the COVID vaccination programme’, published on 27 November 2024 — the CCA noted that these groups are statistically more likely to show vaccine hesitancy and that the programme had shown how pharmacies can support with vaccine uptake, “particularly in traditionally underserved groups”.
As a result, it is calling on NHS England to commission pharmacies to deliver a wider range of NHS vaccinations — including pneumonia, shingles, meningitis, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and other routine childhood vaccinations.
Data from the report show that, during the spring 2024 COVID-19 vaccination programme, community pharmacies delivered 55% of vaccines given to people of a Black/Black British ethnicity; 62% of those given to people of an Asian/Asian British ethnicity; 54% of those given to people of a mixed ethnicity; and 58% of those given to people of a Chinese or other ethnic group ethnicity.
The CCA also reported that community pharmacies delivered more than 42 million COVID-19 vaccines between December 2020 and August 2024 — “more than a quarter of the 165 million vaccines delivered so far”, the report said.
It also noted that there have been “recent drops in uptake of crucial vaccines” across the UK, with rates for all vaccines falling below the World Health Organization’s childhood vaccination rate target of 95%.
“NHS England should commission community pharmacies to deliver a wider range of NHS vaccines including pneumonia, shingles, meningitis, RSV and routine childhood vaccinations,” the report recommended.
“We estimate pharmacies could deliver an additional 10 million vaccines.”
Pharmacies in the east of England have been commissioned to provide RSV vaccines as part of the RSV vaccination programme, which began in September 2024.
And, in January 2024, NHS England launched a measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) catch-up campaign in response to an outbreak of measles cases and a fall in MMR vaccination rates to a 13-year low, with more than 40 pharmacies providing MMR jabs in the north west of England in a programme that will run until March 2025.
Malcolm Harrison, chief executive of the CCA, said: “Pharmacies have proven time and time again that they can boost uptake and confidence in vaccination, especially amongst underserved communities.
“Pharmacies could deliver 10 million more vaccinations each year — freeing up GP capacity and hospital beds, but also ensuring patients and members of the public could be vaccinated where and when they want.
“NHS England must now build on community pharmacy’s track record in the flu and COVID-19 vaccination programme.”
Commenting on the report, Nick Kaye, chair of the National Pharmacy Association, said: “As this report highlights, pharmacies have proven themselves to be highly effective in vaccination programmes, including COVID-19 and flu.
“We have long called for an expansion of their vaccination role within the NHS, to help protect the population against other illnesses such as pneumonia.
“The sector’s impressive track record in public health, the potential to address health inequalities and the unparalleled access offered by pharmacies create a very strong case for service development in this sphere,” he added.
