Projected Outcomes of an Expanded Role for Pharmacists in Publicly Funded Immunization Services in New Brunswick

by Dr. Chris Folkins, Clark Brewster, Rebecca Foster, Adrienne Gulliver & Emily Thomson

Abstract: In New Brunswick, pharmacy professionals can provide a range of immunizations to the public. However, only the provision of the influenza and COVID-19 vaccines are currently reimbursed by the government. Patients seeking other vaccines at pharmacies must pay out of pocket or use private insurance to cover both service fees and drug costs. Many vaccines are publicly-funded by the province and are available through physicians at no personal cost, yet thousands of residents are without family doctors and instead seek the convenience of pharmacies for this service, despite the price. Administrative data accessed through NB-IRDT was used to investigate how the expansion of publicly-funded vaccines administered by pharmacy professionals could impact health care costs, access to care, and health outcomes for New Brunswick. Linear regressions were performed to forecast pharmacist-administered vaccine counts and cost estimates for the year 2023 with the addition of two vaccines in pharmacists’ publicly-funded immunization scope. Based on eligibility criteria and ease of patient assessment, vaccines protecting against pneumonia, tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis were included in our model. Our results suggest that by joining physicians in the administration of two additional vaccines, pharmacists could improve vaccine uptake in New Brunswick while reducing provincial health care costs. Expanding the scope of pharmacy professionals may also benefit the physician workforce; increasing pharmacists’ capacity to provide additional publicly-funded vaccines resulted in physician time savings. This translates into greater availability for family doctors to roster new patients. The application of our findings could result in health system savings, higher vaccine uptake rates, better access to primary care, and government investment in pharmacy services in New Brunswick.