Targeting the right patients with the right vaccines is vital for public health and pharmacists are perfectly placed to make a major contribution
According to the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU), community pharmacists continued to provide over 30 per cent of all vaccines administered during the Autumn-Winter Vaccination Programme of 2025/2026. During the same period, pharmacists also administered 56 per cent of the Children’s LAIV (Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine) Primary Schools Programme. According to figures from the HSE, a total of more than 1.3 million flu vaccinations (IIV, LAIV) were administered across all sites, including community pharmacies, GPs, hospitals, and others in Ireland, in the 2025/2026 influenza season.
The list of conditions that are vaccine-preventable is extensive, but includes flu, measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, diphtheria, and more. The Health Protection Surveillance Centre provides an exhaustive list of vaccine-preventable diseases. This article will focus on a small number of these preventable conditions.
The HSE advises that the best time to get the flu vaccine is before the flu season begins, and people can get this vaccine where they live if they are housebound or living in a nursing home. Those who are vulnerable due to underlying conditions should be encouraged to get the flu vaccine, and those in regular contact with pigs, poultry or waterfowl should also be signposted towards vaccination.
Shingles
Even if a person has an active lifestyle, there is a one-in-three chance that they will develop shingles. Also known as herpes zoster, shingles is recognisable by blisters and sharp burning nerve pain in the skin caused by reactivation of the varicella zoster virus. This virus can be reactivated at any time during life, but the risk increases as the immune system naturally get weaker as people grow older. Ninety-five per cent of adults aged 50 years or older already carry the virus that causes shingles.
Shingles can be prevented through vaccination, but once they get the vaccine, patients may notice immune system reactions and short-term side effects. These normally disappear on their own in two-to-three days, and over-the-counter analgesics can help alleviate side-effects.
RSV
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) causes varying degrees of respiratory illnesses in all age groups. The RSV season in Ireland is usually from September to February. Immunisation against RSV is the best way to protect babies, according to the HSE, and during RSV season, one-in-two babies will contract RSV, says the Executive. RSV immunisation not only protects the health of babies, but also takes significant pressure off the hospital system.
However, the negative effects of RSV are not limited to children. The RSV Vaccination Service is available to eligible patients who are aged 18 years or older and current national immunisation guidance recommends the RSV vaccination for those who are aged 75 years and older, and people aged over 60 years who have an additional risk factor for RSV disease, for example lung or heart disease, obesity, diabetes or a compromised immune system.
RSV vaccination is not recommended routinely for all adults, and patients should discuss their suitability for adult RSV vaccination with a healthcare professional. Similar to children, adult RSV vaccination not only protects the health of the vulnerable, but also reduces the need for hospital bed occupancy.
At the moment in Ireland, there is no mechanism for pharmacists to prescribe RSV immunisation. RSV is not considered a ‘typical’ vaccination, but rather is a long-acting monoclonal antibody. It is offered in maternity hospitals as part of routine care from the months of September through to February, and now also as a ‘catch-up’ programme in primary care through a GP practice, for example for infants born after March 2025 who were then entering the winter RSV season.
Signposting
The value and contribution of community pharmacists lies in this programme as a signposting role, to actively promote immunisation to eligible patients. Uptake in Irish hospitals was 88 per cent last year through the Pathfinder 2.0 programme, which was launched in August 2025 to provide protective monoclonal antibody immunisation against RSV to vulnerable infants in Ireland.
Uptake in Irish hospitals was 88 per cent last year through the Pathfinder 2.0 programme
Uptake in the community was 52 per cent and although as infants get older, RSV presentations are usually less significant, higher uptake would continue to reduce hospitalisations and free-up resources.
The Pathfinder 2.0 programme followed-up from the Pathfinder 1 initiative, which led to a significant reduction in the number of reported infant RSV cases in the 2024/25 season, at 398 compared to previous seasons (2023/24 = 1,142; 2022/23 =997; 2021/22 = 801).
Extracting data from electronic health records, pharmacists can interpret findings and examine determinants of uptake, for example whether the mother’s ethnicity, age or deprivation status play a role in their choice of whether or not to immunise. This data is then fed back to the HPSC by way of an annual report, allowing the HPSC to put measures in place to help support under-represented cohorts for the following programme. For example, Irish and Roma Travellers have a poor uptake and there has been some work done with Pavee Point to try to improve outcomes for those communities. Community pharmacies have an important role in promoting the programme and administering RSV vaccines in the pharmacy with a prescription.
Benefits
The benefits of pharmacy-based vaccination are clear and have been outlined above, and pharmacists are also playing an important role in delivering services to schools. There have also been indications that the shingles vaccination will become public at some point, and pharmacists will also play an vital role in that area.
Pharmacists are also facilitating a range of new services, including the Common Conditions Service, Mediback, BowelScreen, contraception services, and more CPA25 initiatives are set to be delivered this year.
Nationally, policy for increased delivery of healthcare in primary care is being progressed and it is a positive development that pharmacists’ and doctors’ skills are being leveraged for this evolving area of healthcare delivery. Pharmacists’ increasing involvement in delivering vaccinations has enabled GPs to tackle RSV backlogs, and this is in keeping with the concept of healthcare professionals working in teams to deliver the most efficient healthcare in the community.
Pneumonia
Vaccination against pneumonia helps protect patients against the effects of the pneumococcal bacteria. Pneumonia can be a life-threatening condition in older adults, especially those in old age, and other people at increased risk include those with diabetes, chronic heart/lung/liver/kidney disease, people with a missing spleen, or weakened immune systems.
It is recommended for all adults aged over 65 years, as well as smokers and people with alcohol dependency. It can be administered at the same time as flu vaccination, with each vaccine administered in a different arm if necessary.
The HSE National Immunisation Office (NIO) has published its Toolkit to Support the Administration of Flu Vaccination to Children in Primary Schools or Community Settings by Primary Care to support pharmacists and other healthcare professionals. In addition, the IPU offers several resources to support vaccination practices, and the PSI also updates its guidance when necessary.
Check the HSE website for full details of the Autumn/Winter vaccination programme.
