The 2019 measles outbreak was the worst since the US eliminated measles in 2000. This \npaper presents the vaccination trends for a large chain -pharmacy, Walgreens, and examines the \nestimated vaccination capacity and impact of pharmacist privilege policies across states. \nSpecifically, we estimated the number of people who could have been vaccinated in eight states \nwith reduced or no measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccination privilege during the study \nperiod Januaryâ??June, 2019. During the study period, Walgreens pharmacists administered MMR \nvaccines to 62,526 patients, a 231.9% increase. If pharmacists had been permitted to vaccinate against \nmeasles in the eight states investigated, Walgreens pharmacies would have administered between \n12,404 and 36,551 additional vaccinations during that time. We also estimated all chain pharmaciesâ?? \ncapacity to vaccinate in one state that was severely impacted by the measles outbreak, New York, \nusing a range from normal pharmacy operating conditions to maximum capacity. Assuming \nsufficient demand, it was estimated that chain pharmacies in New York State would have the \ncapacity to vaccinate between 47,688 and 174,856 patients daily, achieving MMR vaccination (first \ndose) of the measles -susceptible population within 8â??28 days. Overall, this study demonstrates the \npublic health value of pharmacist vaccination privilege during a nation -wide outbreak of measles.
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