Community Pharmacists' Attitudes and Experiences Regarding the Promotion of Vaccinations in Japan

Japan has the lowest vaccine confidence worldwide. Although community pharmacists are expected to support public health, it remains unclear whether Japanese community pharmacists-who cannot administer vaccines-engage in vaccine consultation and promotion. This cross-sectional study used a paper-based, self-administered, anonymous questionnaire distributed to randomly selected community pharmacists in Japan to investigate their attitudes and experiences regarding vaccination, exploring issues related to the prevalence of the vaccine-related roles of community pharmacists. One thousand pharmacies were chosen, and the valid response rate was 44.6%. While 86.5% of respondents had experience with vaccine consultation, only 59.2% had experience with vaccine promotion. The rate of vaccine promotion was significantly higher among community pharmacists who recognized Japan's low vaccine confidence and held positive attitudes toward vaccine promotion (P < 0.001). Most respondents (76.9%) desired training to expand pharmacists' roles in vaccination. Additionally, 62.1% supported pharmacist-administered vaccines, though many were concerned about technical skills (83.3%) and potential anaphylaxis (63.6%). These findings suggest that promoting awareness of vaccine hesitancy and strengthening attitudes toward vaccine promotion could increase the number of community pharmacists involved in such activities. Japanese pharmacists may also need appropriate vaccine administration knowledge and skills to prepare for potential future responsibilities in vaccine administration.