What is it about?
Community pharmacists are highly accessible healthcare professionals and could help expand access to vaccination, particularly in healthcare systems facing limited resources. We surveyed 398 community pharmacists in the West Bank, Palestine, to examine their willingness and readiness to provide vaccination services. Only 36.7% were initially willing to administer vaccines, but willingness increased to 86.9% when appropriate training and legislative support were assumed. Pharmacists identified barriers including liability concerns, inadequate training, limited pharmacy space and other infrastructure challenges. The findings suggest that pharmacists’ potential contribution to vaccination is constrained more by system-level barriers than by lack of professional willingness.
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Why is it important?
Expanding vaccination beyond traditional healthcare settings could improve access to immunization, particularly in resource-constrained health systems. Our findings show that pharmacists’ willingness to vaccinate can change substantially when appropriate training and legislative support are in place. This suggests that the main challenge is not simply persuading pharmacists to take on a new role, but creating the regulatory, educational and infrastructural conditions that allow them to do so safely. The findings can inform policy discussions around pharmacist training, certification, scope of practice, liability protection and pharmacy infrastructure in Palestine and other resource-constrained settings.
Perspectives
What stood out most was the difference between pharmacists’ willingness under current conditions and their willingness when training and legislative support were assumed. This suggests that apparent reluctance should not automatically be interpreted as resistance to an expanded professional role. Readiness depends on the environment in which pharmacists are expected to practise. If pharmacist-led immunization is to be considered in Palestine, training alone will not be enough; regulation, liability protection, appropriate infrastructure, reimbursement and collaboration with other healthcare professionals will also need to be addressed.
Dr Dala Daraghmeh
Al-Quds University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: System-level barriers and readiness for pharmacist-led immunization in Palestinian community pharmacies: a cross-sectional study, BMC Health Services Research, August 2026, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1186/s12913-026-15285-5.
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