Vaccination

COVID-19 vaccinations should not be mandatory for health and care staff, RPS tells government

In response to a government consultation, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has maintained that COVID-19 vaccines should be optional for health and care staff, after a survey of members revealed “no significant majority for or against” mandatory vaccination.…

All pharmacists now eligible for free flu vaccination in England after U-turn

Additional funding has been set aside to allow for all "eligible primary care contractors" to be vaccinated against flu — including community pharmacy teams and locums — following pleas from the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee.…

Boots to administer COVID-19 booster jabs from 55 pharmacies

The multiple will offer flu vaccinations at the same time as COVID-19 booster jabs "wherever possible".…

It is ‘shocking’ that free flu vaccinations are not being offered to all pharmacists in England and Wales, says RPS

Claire Anderson, president of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, said the Society is "calling on the NHS to offer free flu vaccinations to pharmacists and pharmacy teams in both England and Wales, as is the case in Scotland”.…

COVID-19 booster campaign: everything we know so far

An outline of the plans for the UK COVID-19 booster vaccination programme.…

Microneedles: a new way to deliver vaccines

Microneedles have long been used in cosmetic procedures, but they offer many advantages for the delivery of vaccines and medicines too, with the COVID-19 pandemic prompting an explosion of research in this area. Here’s how they work.…

Pharmacy technicians can administer flu vaccine under national protocol for England

Exclusive: Public Health England has confirmed that, under the national protocol for administration of inactivated influenza vaccine, pharmacy technicians will be able to prepare and administer the vaccine.…

COVID-19 vaccination could cause ‘red’ results in clozapine monitoring, pharmacists warn

Exclusive: Mental health pharmacists say that clozapine treatment has been discontinued in some patients because of a reduction in white blood cells following infection with COVID-19, but interrupting treatment is not necessarily the right course of action.…

RPS urges government not to end state-backed indemnity for pharmacists delivering COVID-19 vaccinations

In a letter to the vaccines minister, the RPS has asked for plans to end state-provided indemnity insurance to be reconsidered.…

NHS to add 1,000 pharmacy-led sites to COVID-19 vaccination programme ahead of booster campaign

This follows interim advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to revaccinate vulnerable patients against COVID-19 from September 2021.…