13 Feb 2025
Building Trust in Vaccines and Vaccination Programs | Building Vaccine Confidence with APhA
Featured Guests
Brigid Groves, PharmD, MS
Mitch Rothholz, RPh, MBA, FAPhA
Lucas Berenbrok, PharmD, MS, BCACP, FAPhA
Key Takeaway
Tools and techniques pharmacists can use to foster trust with patients regarding vaccines.
CDC’s "Vaccinate with Confidence" Initiative
Protect Communities
CDC is supporting partners to find and protect communities at risk through new investments and partnerships.
Leverage CDC’s Immunization and Vaccines for Children cooperative agreement to support efforts to identify and respond to areas with low vaccine coverage.
Public trust in pharmacists and pharmacy teams helps reinforce vaccine messages.
Collaboration with community leaders and influencers is crucial—messages must be evidence-based and credible.
Best Practices for Pharmacists
"Walk the talk"—if you or a family member received concomitant vaccines, share your experience.
Example: "I received three vaccines at one visit (flu, COVID, and RSV), and I am here to talk about it (and I do)."
Engage with patients by listening rather than lecturing.
Acknowledge patient concerns and provide them with information to consider.
Vaccine hesitancy is not the same as being anti-vaccine—many patients are "vaccine contemplators."
Vaccine Effectiveness
COVID-19 Vaccines
Effectiveness Against Severe Outcomes
Updated vaccines (September 2023 – January 2024) have been effective against XBB lineage and the new JN.1 variant.
Waning Protection
Booster doses are recommended as vaccine effectiveness declines over time.
Population Variability
Effectiveness varies based on age, underlying health conditions, and other factors (e.g., immunocompromised individuals may experience different levels of protection).
General Vaccine Effectiveness
Real-World Conditions
Effectiveness is measured under real-world conditions, factoring in vaccine type, dosage, and timing.
Monitoring & Updates
The CDC continuously tracks vaccine effectiveness to adjust recommendations as needed.
Impact of Vaccination
Measles: Cases reduced from hundreds of thousands annually to only 49 in 2021.
Polio: The U.S. has been polio-free since 1979.
Hepatitis B: Routine vaccination significantly reduces liver cancer risk.
Childhood Vaccinations:
100% reduction in cases of diphtheria, Hib, measles, mumps, polio, and rubella.
Influenza incidence reduced by 17%.
Overall Impact:
Childhood immunizations have averted over 24 million cases of vaccine-preventable diseases in the U.S.
Between 1994-2013, vaccinations prevented:
322 million cases of disease
21 million hospitalizations
732,000 deaths
Public Health Strategies
Use immunization data to identify areas of low vaccine coverage.
Engage with local health departments to monitor vaccine-preventable disease trends.
Strengthen immunization programs to enhance outbreak response.
Encourage collaboration among healthcare providers—it shouldn’t matter who vaccinates, the goal is increasing immunization rates.
Empowering Families
CDC is partnering with key organizations to strengthen vaccine conversations between providers and parents.
Strategies
Start vaccine conversations early, targeting parents of infants and pregnant women.
Reduce hesitancy and improve access in community health centers.
Develop provider toolkits to address parental concerns during outbreaks.
Combating Misinformation
CDC is working with local messengers and partners to stop vaccine myths.
Challenges & Key Messages
New administration statements have increased vaccine doubts, making conversations harder.
There is no link between vaccines and autism, diabetes, or other diseases.
Investments in Public Trust:
Work with social media companies to promote trustworthy vaccine information.
Provide accessible, accurate vaccine data to policymakers.
Engage state and local health officials to counter misinformation effectively.
Priorities for 2020 and Beyond
CDC aims to ensure that every community is protected through:
Data-driven strategies t
