Uncertainties and advances in COVID-19 vaccines

The year of uncertainty (2020) has just ended for both HCPs and the population in general. Facing an unprecedented situation, the unknown, a dizzying succession of changes, complex situations with a low predictability of the future that reduce to the minimum our ability to trust our experience. All these aspects rose like one of the huge challenges to which sooner or later we had to adapt. While the world fought to contain the pandemic from COVID-19, science paved the way to scientific knowledge at dizzying speed. In mid-December, more than 200,000 articles had been published in peer-reviewed journals and by the end of same month, we had two mRNA vaccines, developed and approved at record speed, besides the vaccines approved in Russia and China. A. Undoubtedly, we are still a long way from vanquishing the pandemic.

In this context, community pharmacists need to collaborate to strengthen people's confidence in immunization in various strategic aspects (receptiveness, education/information and completion/compliance). Similarly, now is also the time to improve the relationship between pharmacists and the other healthcare professionals. We need solutions that facilitate our work, and even more so now, when all healthcare professionals should work together to convey the same messages. These possible solutions include joint training, coordination between health centers and community pharmacies of each area and having access to the patient's clinical history or part of it in order to, among others, improve work, and be able to verify the vaccination schedule of every person.