French Pharmacy Students’ Knowledge, Perceptions, Attitudes, and Practices Towards the Extension of Pharmacists’ Vaccination Missions: A National Cross-Sectional Survey

Background/Objectives: French community pharmacists have been given new missions on vaccination since 2019, with now the ability to administer and prescribe vaccines to people aged 11 and over.The main objective of the study was to assess the perceptions and attitudes of pharmacy students on the new missions of pharmacists in vaccination.Methods: We conducted a national survey using self-administered questionnaire and targeting the final-year pharmacy students from the 24 pharmacy faculties in France, from September 5th to December 1st, 2023.Three themes were explored: vaccination in general, initial training on vaccination, and pharmacists' new vaccination missions.Association between the initial training and students' attitudes towards these new missions was assessed using Fisher's exact tests.Results: Overall, 231 students from 18 faculties answered the survey.A large majority of the students (n=228, 98.7%) were favorable to vaccination in general.Most students were in favor of pharmacists administering (n=224, 97.0%) and prescribing (n=212, 91.8%) vaccines.However, few students expressed reservation about the extension of these vaccination missions (administration: n=7, prescription: n=19), the reasons being the fear of carrying the act, the insufficient remuneration and the risks of conflicts with other healthcare providers.Students' willingness to promote vaccination once graduated was significantly associated with their satisfaction with their initial training (p<0.0001).Conclusions: This national survey shows the enthusiasm of students for assuming these new missions.It highlights the strong association between the initial training and motivation to engage in these missions.Results of this study might help adapting these training to students' needs.