Effectiveness of pharmacist-delivered vaccination recommendations for herpes zoster: a systematic review
Frontiers in Public Health·
- DOI
- 10.3389/fpubh.2026.1884479
- PMID
- —
- PMCID
- —
- OpenAlex
- W7203626034
- Study type
- Systematic review
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
Enhancing professional guidance within retail pharmacy settings may help mitigate persistent disease burden in aging populations by facilitating greater immunization participation.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
What impact do pharmacist-initiated guidance protocols have on verified herpes zoster immunization rates and multi-dose regimen adherence?
Study design
A systematic review evaluating quantitative studies that measured pharmacist recommendation interventions against confirmed vaccination outcomes, utilizing standardized risk of bias assessment tools.
Population and setting
Community pharmacy environments across the United States, encompassing both isolated locations and extensive networks serving older demographic groups.
Main findings
Half of the analyzed investigations indicated enhanced vaccination confirmation or series completion after implementing pharmacist recommendation tactics. The highest quality data derived from a cluster randomized trial demonstrating that automated telephonic prompts elevated coverage from 0.72 percent to 2.60 percent. Conversely, three reports documented stagnant or declining rates, and a single analysis addressed completion of the newer vaccine formulation.
Public-health relevance
Enhancing professional guidance within retail pharmacy settings may help mitigate persistent disease burden in aging populations by facilitating greater immunization participation.
Important limitations
The compiled evidence depends predominantly on observational methodologies, with the majority exhibiting serious methodological flaws. Confidence remains constrained due to the scarcity of randomized trials contributing primary data.
GIDS interpretation
This article functions as a consolidated literature assessment regarding pharmacist-led immunization counseling, providing historical and methodological context without generating active epidemiological monitoring signals.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 5 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.