Inside the Influenza Vaccine Vault: Navigating Guidelines, Administration, and Choice

Program Description

Influenza remains a significant public health burden in the United States, driving millions of illnesses, severe complications, and preventable hospitalizations each year despite the availability of effective vaccines. Vaccine hesitancy, access disparities, and inconsistent uptake continue to affect high-risk groups, including older adults, immunocompromised individuals, and patients with chronic conditions. The vaccine landscape itself has grown more complex, with multiple production platforms, including egg-based, cell-based, recombinant, and recently approved messenger RNA vaccines designed to support faster production and closer strain matching. Each product presents patient-specific considerations for pharmacists to navigate alongside the most current evidence and guidance available for the 2026-2027 influenza season to strengthen vaccination uptake and improve public health outcomes. As pharmacies remain a leading site for influenza vaccination, pharmacists must stay current on evolving vaccination recommendations, formulation-specific considerations, and strategies to counter hesitancy and misinformation to guide patients toward the most appropriate influenza vaccine choice. This session features a moderated live discussion of audience questions on topics spanning vaccine selection, patient counseling, workflow integration, and equitable access.

Target audience: Community pharmacists
Type of activity: Application
Release date: September 30, 2026
Expiration date: September 30, 2027
Learner level: Foundational, Intermediate
Time to complete activity: 1.5 hours
Fee: Free

Educational Objectives

At the completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Apply current influenza vaccination recommendations and patient-specific considerations to support appropriate vaccine selection, timing, and administration
• Identify patient-specific barriers to influenza immunization, including vaccine hesitancy, access challenges, and disparities in care, to improve vaccination uptake and patient engagement
• Employ pharmacist-led strategies for influenza prevention, including patient counseling, workflow integration, and evidence-based immunization practices, to support improved public health outcomes

Pharmacy Times Continuing Education™ is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) as a provider of continuing pharmacy education. This application-based based activity is approved for 1.5 contact hours (0.15 CEUs) under the ACPE universal activity number 0290-0000-26-315-H06-P. The activity is available for CE credit through September 30, 2027.

Instructions for Completing the Activity and Receiving CPE Credit

To receive CPE credit, participants must complete the pretest, view the activity in its entirety, complete the posttest, and complete the online activity evaluation. After successful completion of the online activity evaluation, you can submit your credit to CPE Monitor. You may view your credit within 48 hours at www.mycpemonitor.net. All participants must request credit before the activity expiration date. CE credit will not be issued after this date.

Faculty

Carolyn Bridges, MD, FACP, has the following relevant financial relationship with ineligible companies to disclose: Consultant: Seqirus

The following contributors have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose:

Faculty

Rupal Mansukhani, PharmD, CTTS, FAPhA

Spencer H. Durham, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS, BCIDP

Adam J. James, PharmD

Pharmacy Times Continuing Education™ Planning Staff—Jim Palatine, RPh, MBA; Adam C. Welch, PharmD, MBA, FAPhA; Sarah Viruet; and Brianna Winters

Any relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated.

At least one anonymous peer reviewer was used as part of content validation and conflict resolution. The peer reviewer has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose.

Educational Disclaimer

Continuing professional education activities are offered solely for educational purposes and do not constitute any form of professional advice or referral. Discussions concerning drugs, dosages, and procedures may reflect the clinical experience of the author(s) or be derived from the professional literature or other sources and may suggest uses that are investigational in nature and not approved by the labeling or indications. Participants are encouraged to refer to primary references or full prescribing information resources.

For questions about this internet CPE activity, please contact:
[email protected]
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