Barriers to COVID-19 Vaccines and Strategies to Improve Acceptability and Uptake

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on communities across the United States (US). Three vaccines have now been granted Emergency Use Authorization by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for use in the US. However, barriers to vaccination exist, some of which are well documented in the literature, including lack of knowledge, fear, accessibility, mistrust in the healthcare system, and systemic and operational obstacles. Vaccine hesitancy in the US could potentially hinder all the efforts and resources being used to beat COVID-19, which has resulted in more than 594 000 deaths in the US per the CDC as of early June 2021. In order to overcome this pandemic, vaccine distribution and uptake is crucial. Pharmacists play a crucial role as healthcare providers as they can dismantle vaccine hesitancy and make an outstanding impact on the efforts to overcome this pandemic.