Sixty-seven second year pharmacy students enrolled in Pharmaceutical Care II course became certified immunizers recently.  The course is taught by Dr. Elisa Greene and Dr. Alisa Spinelli.  Utilizing the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Pharmacy-Based Immunization Delivery program, students completed 20 hours of self-study, didactic, and skills-based training. Topics included vaccine preventable diseases, the role of pharmacists as vaccine advocates and administrators,  legal and regulatory issues, and injection technique. This is the 3rd year that students enrolled in the course have participated in the certification program.

Over 50,000 people die from vaccine preventable illnesses in the United States each year. Immunization-certified pharmacists have expanded community access to protection against vaccine preventable diseases, such as influenza, shingles, and pneumococcal disease.  The Institute of Medicine estimates that immunizations, including pharmacist-administered immunizations, have helped to prevent 14 million infections and 33,000 additional deaths from these conditions each year.