PANORAMA

Berlin  -  Pharmacies in the Swiss canton Basel-Stadt are not involved in the allocation of the H1N1 vaccine – but they are offering vaccinations against seasonal flu. At certain times doctors come into high street pharmacies specially. The response among the population is so great that in many pharmacies the vaccine supplies have already been completely used up.

The refrigerators in the pharmacy Sevogel-Apotheke are empty. "Our last vaccination appointment was on 7th November", pharmacist Lydia Isler told PHARMA ADHOC. She is leading the vaccination campaign, in which this year 29 out of a total of 71 pharmacies in the canton are participating. Around 4000 people have been vaccinated since the end of September.

For seven years the pharmacies in Basel have been offering vaccination appointments in cooperation with local doctors. The doctors mostly come at midday, in the evenings and on Saturdays. This is because the Pharmacy Association of the City of Basel (Baselstädtischer Apothekerverband) primarily wants to reach 16 to 65-year-olds who are in employment. "We purposely address these patients, because they often have no general practitioner who they can visit to be vaccinated", said Isler. But children and the elderly would also not be sent away.

Several pharmacies ask people to sign up in order to shorten possible waiting times. At others it is possible to turn up spontaneously for a vaccination appointment. On the internet pages of the Association of Phamacists, people who are interested can see the list of appointments.

Those who are vaccinated in a pharmacy have to pay for it themselves. Including medical advice and the vaccine itself it costs 29 Swiss francs – equating to around 19 euros. However, in comparison with a visit to the doctor, the consumers save money in pharmacies, said Isler: In a doctor's surgery the vaccine and doctor's advice alone would cost around 30 francs. On top of this is the fee for the immunisation.

This year the pharmacists started their campaign earlier than usual. The reason is swine flu: The Swiss can be vaccinated against it from the end of November; the pharmacists wanted to carry out their vaccinations against seasonal flu with a time lag before the start of the H1N1 immunisation. "Last year we offered vaccinations in our pharmacy until the end of November", explained Isler.

Those being immunised fill out questionnaires detailing reactions that they have experienced to vaccinations in the past, previous vaccinations and also institutions in which the vaccinations were carried out. In spring the evaluation of the questionnaires is to be completed."This time we are particularly excited", explained Isler. Perhaps it will be possible to identify effects in the questionnaires that can be ascribed to swine flu.

The organisers are convinced of the success of their project: It is already clear that from year to year more people are vaccinated in pharmacies, said the project leader. The number of participating pharmacies is also increasing. And in the future there could also be vaccinations in pharmacies outside of Basel-Stadt. "Other cantons are considering whether to take up our concept", said Isler. Apart from those in Basel, only around 30 pharmacies in the whole of Switzerland have been offering immunisation appointments on their own initiative up to now.

Janina Rauers, Thu, December 10, 2009 03:50pm CET