PHARMACIST-LED VACCINATION IN FRANCE: DRIVERS OF ACCEPTABILITY ACROSS HEALTHCARE USERS, GENERAL PRACTITIONERS, AND PHARMACISTS
Author(s)
Anke Bourgeois, MD1, Françoise Alliot Launois, .2, Pascale Bausson, .3, Océane Kitsoukou, PharmD4, Guillaume Molinier, .5, Sophie Muller, MD4, Gaëlle Nachbaur, MSc4, Patricia Pujol, PharmD, PhD4, Margaux Rullan Borras, PharmD4, Philippe Thebault, .5, Pierre-Olivier Variot, PharmD6, Olivier Rozaire, PharmD7, Bruno Vermesse, MD8, Jean-Philippe Leroy, MD9.
1Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Montpellier University Hospital; Herault Public Vaccination Centre, Institut Bouisson Bertrand, Montpellier, France, 2French Association for the Fight Against Rheumatic Diseases (AFLAR), Paris, France, 3AplusA Real World Evidence, Boulogne Billancourt, France, 4GSK, Rueil-Malmaison, France, 5Alliance du Coeur, Paris, France, 6Union of Community Pharmacists’ Unions (USPO), Paris, France, 7Regional Union of Health Professionals – Pharmacists, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (URPS AuRA), Lyon, France, 8General Practitioner, La Madeleine, Lille, France, 9DéSAN, Public Health Hub, Rouen University Hospital, Charles Nicolle Hospital, Rouen, France.
1Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases, Montpellier University Hospital; Herault Public Vaccination Centre, Institut Bouisson Bertrand, Montpellier, France, 2French Association for the Fight Against Rheumatic Diseases (AFLAR), Paris, France, 3AplusA Real World Evidence, Boulogne Billancourt, France, 4GSK, Rueil-Malmaison, France, 5Alliance du Coeur, Paris, France, 6Union of Community Pharmacists’ Unions (USPO), Paris, France, 7Regional Union of Health Professionals – Pharmacists, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (URPS AuRA), Lyon, France, 8General Practitioner, La Madeleine, Lille, France, 9DéSAN, Public Health Hub, Rouen University Hospital, Charles Nicolle Hospital, Rouen, France.
OBJECTIVES: In 2023, pharmacists in France were allowed to prescribe and administer recommended vaccines to individuals aged ≥11 years. This study evaluated factors influencing acceptability among healthcare users, general practitioners (GPs), and pharmacists.
METHODS: In 2025, 300 pharmacists, 300 GPs, and 3,000 adult healthcare users, representative of the French population, completed a web-based cross-sectional survey. Acceptability of pharmacists’ prescribing and administering vaccines was measured using Likert scales. Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) identified variables discriminating between higher and lower acceptability.
RESULTS: Over the past two years, 53.1% of healthcare users were vaccinated in pharmacies, rising to 77.9% among those ≥65 years and 76.8% among infectious risk seniors. LDA showed age as the strongest discriminator of acceptability, with heterogeneous effects. Acceptability increased with age among users, from a mean (SD, age group) of 7.4/10 (2.2, 18-29 years) to 8.6/10 (1.9, ≥75 years), while it declined among pharmacists from 9.8/10 (0.7, <45 years) to 9.0/10 (1.5, >55 years). GPs showed the lowest scores, decreasing from 5.6/10 (3.1) to 4.8/10 (3.0) across age groups comparable to pharmacists. Pharmacists were most comfortable prescribing (96.0%) and administering (97.7%) vaccines to users ≥65 years without chronic conditions, and least comfortable with immunocompromised patients (50.0% prescription, 76.7% administration) and those with allergies (53.7%, 65.7%). GPs were favourable to pharmacists’ prescription (52.0%) and administration (59.0%) to older users without chronic conditions, but less favourable for immunocompromised patients (26.7%, 37.3%), pregnant women (30.0%, 37.0%), patients on anticoagulants (30.7%, 36.3%) and those with allergies (24.0%, 32.0%).
CONCLUSIONS: Stakeholders’ age and healthcare users’ characteristics influence acceptability of pharmacy-based vaccination. Older users and even those at infectious risk show the greatest engagement and acceptability. Conversely, pharmacists and GPs reported lower confidence in the management by pharmacists of certain profiles, such as immunosuppression, highlighting the need for targeted training and stronger interprofessional collaboration to maximise public health impact.
METHODS: In 2025, 300 pharmacists, 300 GPs, and 3,000 adult healthcare users, representative of the French population, completed a web-based cross-sectional survey. Acceptability of pharmacists’ prescribing and administering vaccines was measured using Likert scales. Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) identified variables discriminating between higher and lower acceptability.
RESULTS: Over the past two years, 53.1% of healthcare users were vaccinated in pharmacies, rising to 77.9% among those ≥65 years and 76.8% among infectious risk seniors. LDA showed age as the strongest discriminator of acceptability, with heterogeneous effects. Acceptability increased with age among users, from a mean (SD, age group) of 7.4/10 (2.2, 18-29 years) to 8.6/10 (1.9, ≥75 years), while it declined among pharmacists from 9.8/10 (0.7, <45 years) to 9.0/10 (1.5, >55 years). GPs showed the lowest scores, decreasing from 5.6/10 (3.1) to 4.8/10 (3.0) across age groups comparable to pharmacists. Pharmacists were most comfortable prescribing (96.0%) and administering (97.7%) vaccines to users ≥65 years without chronic conditions, and least comfortable with immunocompromised patients (50.0% prescription, 76.7% administration) and those with allergies (53.7%, 65.7%). GPs were favourable to pharmacists’ prescription (52.0%) and administration (59.0%) to older users without chronic conditions, but less favourable for immunocompromised patients (26.7%, 37.3%), pregnant women (30.0%, 37.0%), patients on anticoagulants (30.7%, 36.3%) and those with allergies (24.0%, 32.0%).
CONCLUSIONS: Stakeholders’ age and healthcare users’ characteristics influence acceptability of pharmacy-based vaccination. Older users and even those at infectious risk show the greatest engagement and acceptability. Conversely, pharmacists and GPs reported lower confidence in the management by pharmacists of certain profiles, such as immunosuppression, highlighting the need for targeted training and stronger interprofessional collaboration to maximise public health impact.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2026-11, ISPOR Europe 2026, Vienna, Austria
Value in Health, Volume 29, Issue 12S
Code
P7
Topic
Health Service Delivery & Process of Care
Disease
Vaccines