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Immunization

In collaboration with prescribers and local public health departments, pharmacists should protect their patients' health by being vaccine advocates through education, facilitation, and administration of immunizations. As a public health effort, the goal of provision of immunizations is to reduce and ultimately eliminate the incidence of vaccine-preventable diseases.

Over the years, IPA has helped to advocate for the role of pharmacists in providing immunizations in their practice settings. As authority to administer immunizations expanded, IPA successfully advanced legislation in 2018 to allow pharmacists to administer immunizations under a statewide protocol. Following passage of the new law, the Iowa Board of Pharmacy and Department of Public Health adopted rules and a standing order to authorize pharmacists to order and administer the following immunizations:

  • To patients ages six months and older:
    • An immunization for influenza, and
    • Other immunizations in response to a public health emergency;
  • To patients ages eleven years and older:
    • The final dose(s) in a course of vaccinations for human papillomavirus (HPV);
  • To patients ages eighteen and older:
    • An immunization or vaccination recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee on immunization practices in its approved vaccination schedule, and
    • An immunization or vaccination recommended by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for international travel.
 To help pharmacies participate in the statewide protocol and provide immunizations to patients in their communities, IPA has created this webpage with all of the resources needed for pharmacies to get ready, set, and GO!
 

Get Ready:

(Background information to understand Iowa’s immunization rules and statewide standing order)  

Get Set:

(Training pharmacy staff; NPI obtainment; professional liability coverage)  

GO!

(Operationalize the immunization service in your pharmacy)  

Other Additional Resources: