Flu Vaccinations Could Soon Be Available in Pharmacies in the Czech Republic
Draft legislation aims to make flu vaccinations more accessible – currently only around eight per cent of the population in the Czech Republic is vaccinated each year
Foto: Ed Us | Unsplash
The Ministry of Health plans to allow flu vaccinations to be administered in pharmacies in the future. A draft law aims to make access to vaccination easier and increase the Czech Republic's consistently low vaccination rate.
The Czech Republic has for years ranked among the European countries with a comparatively low flu vaccination rate. According to the Ministry of Health, only around eight per cent of the population receives an influenza vaccination each year. To improve access to vaccination, the ministry is now preparing draft legislation that would allow flu vaccinations to be administered in pharmacies under clearly defined conditions.
The draft legislation is currently undergoing the interministerial consultation process. The aim is to improve access to vaccination and encourage more people to take advantage of this preventive measure.
Health Minister Adam Vojtěch stressed that this is neither a new nor an untested model. Flu vaccinations in pharmacies are already part of routine healthcare in numerous European countries, including France, Poland, Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Germany. Slovakia is also currently introducing the model. In all of these countries, vaccinations are administered by specially trained pharmacists under clearly defined legal frameworks.
According to the minister, expanding access to vaccination is intended in particular to make preventive healthcare more accessible and help protect vulnerable groups from severe illness, hospitalisation and deaths caused by influenza.
Tomáš Boráň, Director of the State Institute for Drug Control (SÚKL), also highlighted the safety of flu vaccination. According to the available data, only isolated to a few dozen suspected adverse reactions are reported each year among adults. No cases of severe immediate allergic reactions (anaphylaxis) have been recorded during the past five years.
Flu vaccinations in pharmacies are already widespread across Europe, although the specific rules vary from country to country. In Germany, appropriately qualified pharmacists are permitted to administer flu and COVID-19 vaccinations. In Poland, pharmacists are also responsible for assessing whether patients are suitable for vaccination. In Italy and Slovakia, administering vaccinations is subject to additional specialist training. What all of these models have in common is that they are based on sound professional qualifications, clear legal requirements and high patient safety standards.
