Practical Considerations Shaping Pneumococcal Vaccine Selection: A Multinational Cross-Sectional Survey of Healthcare...

The pneumococcal vaccine landscape now includes multiple vaccines differing in age indications and serotype compositions. While clinical attributes such as effectiveness, safety, and disease coverage are key considerations, healthcare professionals (HCPs) also confront operational aspects of vaccination, such as managing multiple vaccines across pediatric and adult populations which are less well characterized. This study assessed HCP priorities and practical considerations for pneumococcal vaccine selection and the additional serotype coverage required to justify use of an adult-specific vaccine instead of the same vaccine across children and adults.

This cross-sectional online survey involved 500 HCPs (physicians, nurses, and pharmacists) from Australia, Canada, France, Mexico, and Taiwan. The perceived importance of pneumococcal vaccination, practical considerations, perceived challenges and benefits of using a single vaccine across age groups versus separate age-specific vaccines, and the serotype coverage difference to justify use of multiple pneumococcal vaccines strategies were assessed.

Pneumococcal vaccination was rated as important by 97.6% of HCPs for children and 99.2% for adults. Implementation factors important to HCPs included logistical hurdles while ordering and stocking (94.0%) and minimal storage requirements (84.4%). Use of separate pediatric and adult vaccines was considered to increase refrigeration requirements (90.0% agreeing) and stock handling complexity (89.1%), whereas use of a common vaccine across age groups was perceived to provide cost savings at practice level (85.1%) and health system level (83.4%). HCPs also agreed that a single vaccine would reduce the potential for medical errors (96.3%) and improve inventory management (93.0%). An average difference of 34.7 ± 16.8% in adult-specific invasive pneumococcal disease serotype coverage was perceived by HCPs to justify adding an adult-specific vaccine rather than using a single vaccine across age groups.

HCPs balance clinical attributes with real-world delivery constraints when selecting pneumococcal vaccines, and favor simpler, single-vaccine strategies across age groups unless separate vaccines offer a clearly substantial coverage advantage.