Trial results for a study investigating COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy counseling for pharmacists were posted on ClinicalTrials.gov on 2025-06-24. The trial was terminated with an enrollment of 16 participants.
Background
COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy remains a significant public health challenge, impacting vaccination rates and community immunity. Pharmacists, as accessible healthcare providers, are uniquely positioned to address patient concerns and provide counseling regarding vaccinations. Effective counseling interventions are crucial, especially in rural areas where access to healthcare information may be limited. This trial aimed to evaluate different approaches to support pharmacists in implementing vaccine hesitancy counseling, recognizing their vital role in public health initiatives.
Trial design
This terminated study, identified as Phase NA, enrolled 16 participants with COVID-19. The trial's objective was to assess whether virtual facilitation (e.g., video coaching) could enhance rural pharmacists' ability to implement COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy counseling compared to a standard implementation approach (e.g., training and dissemination of support tools). All participants began in the standard implementation condition, then proceeded to the virtual facilitation condition. The primary question focused on whether virtual facilitation improved fidelity to the counseling intervention.
Key results
The trial reported fidelity scores and vaccination proportions for both implementation stages:
- For the "Standard Implementation (Stage 1)" group, the "Mean Fidelity Score" was 20 (Standard Deviation: 0 score on a scale).
- For the "Virtual Facilitation (Stage 2)" group, the "Mean Fidelity Score" was 15.82 (Standard Deviation: 2.06 score on a scale).
- The "Proportion of Individuals Receiving Vaccine Hesitancy Counseling Who Chose to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine" in the "Standard Implementation (Stage 1)" group was 0.38.
- The "Proportion of Individuals Receiving Vaccine Hesitancy Counseling Who Chose to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine" in the "Virtual Facilitation (Stage 2)" group was 0.20.
An analysis of the Risk Ratio (RR) was also provided, with a value of 0.46 and a 95% Confidence Interval ranging from 0.18 to 1.16.
What this means
The posted results from this terminated trial suggest that virtual facilitation, in this context, did not improve fidelity to the vaccine hesitancy counseling intervention. The mean fidelity score was lower in the virtual facilitation stage (15.82) compared to the standard implementation stage (20). Furthermore, the proportion of individuals who chose to get the COVID-19 vaccine after counseling was also lower in the virtual facilitation stage (0.20) compared to the standard implementation stage (0.38). The Risk Ratio of 0.46, with a confidence interval crossing 1, indicates that virtual facilitation may not have been more effective in promoting vaccination. The trial's termination with only 16 participants limits the generalizability of these findings, but the data available suggests that the virtual facilitation approach, as tested, did not achieve its intended improvement in counseling fidelity or vaccination rates.
Source
The information regarding these trial results was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a public database of clinical studies. The results for the study NCT05926544, titled "COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Counseling Intervention for Pharmacists", were posted on 2025-06-24 on clinicaltrials.gov.