Addressing Unfunded Vaccines Through a Co-payment Mechanism in Pharmacies

Launched by CANADIAN IMMUNIZATION RESEARCH NETWORK · Jun 28, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial is looking at a new way to help people get vaccines that are recommended but not currently covered by public funding, like Shingrix and FluMist. The study will use a special payment model at community pharmacies in Nova Scotia and Ontario, where participants may pay a reduced cost for these vaccines. The main goal is to see if this approach makes it easier for people to access and receive these important immunizations until public funding becomes available.

To be eligible for this trial, participants must be visiting selected community pharmacies that meet certain criteria, such as having enough qualified pharmacy professionals to give vaccinations and being located in areas that don't overlap with other healthcare services. Participants will need to complete a survey about their experiences with the co-payment model, their thoughts on vaccines, and some basic information about themselves. This trial is not yet recruiting participants, but it's an important step in increasing vaccine access for everyone.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • The selection of the community pharmacies will be based on population size, stable pharmacy patients, availability and interest of community pharmacies and community pharmacy professionals, sufficient numbers of pharmacy professionals qualified to provide vaccinations, and lack of substantial health care spill over to adjacent communities.
• • Spill over is defined as a pattern of health-care utilization where patients regularly receive care at different regional health centres. Communities will be geographically separated to minimize potential spill over.
• • The selection of the community pharmacy sites is still in progress. We will aim to recruit pharmacies in different locations around the province(s) and ensure the locations are comparable in terms of socioeconomic status and separated sufficiently to reduce shopping around for the best deal.
• • The participating pilot pharmacies will recruit individuals who are currently eligible for the vaccine as per NACI guidance for each product as part of routine care.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Patients of the participating pharmacies in Nova Scotia and Ontario who already have private insurance coverage to cover all (or most) of the vaccine will be excluded from taking part in this pilot project.