Flu Season 101: Direct From Your Local Pharmacist

Flu Season 101:Direct from your local pharmacist

According to the US Department of Health

and Human Services, flu season begins in the fall

and peaks around January and February

Source: flu.gov

Center for Disease Control (CDC) tells us getting a flu shot is your best

option for preventing the flu

They recommends flu shots for everyone 6 months and older

Flu shots reduce your odds of getting the flu by 70% to 90%

Source: cdc.gov/flu/about/season

InCrowd asked 150 retail pharmacists from across the US to

share their thoughts on the 2013 - 2014 flu season

Why don’t people get flu shots?

What do you see as the major benefits to people receiving flu shots at their local pharmacy?

What do you see as the major drawbacks to people receiving flu shots at their local pharmacy?

What level of severity do you predict for the 2013 - 2014 flu season?

InCrowd Asked…

Q1: Why don’t people get flu shots?

Reason #1: Believe the flu shot will give them the flu and make them sick 82/150

Reason #2: No need for a flu shot, never get sick 32/150

Reason #3: Fear and misconceptions around the benefits of the flu shot 23/150

According the pharmacists we surveyed, there are three main reasons people don't get flu shots

Source: InCrowd Pharmacist Research, n = 150

15.4%

21.3%

54.7%

Top 3 Reasons People Don’t Get Flu Shots

Flu shot will make them sick

No need, never get sick

Fear, misconceptions around benefits


Q2: What are the major benefits to people receiving flu shots at their local pharmacy?

Benefits identified by surveyed pharmacists fall under the umbrella of convenience and could play a

role in more people getting flu shots

90% of surveyed pharmacists identified convenience as main benefit of getting flu shot at a retail pharmacy

• Easy access, offered at many pharmacies and stores 78/150• No appointment needed 33/150• Fast with minimal wait time 24/150


Ease of ac-cess / of-fered by many

pharmacies

and stores

No ap-pointment

needed

Fast / Low

wait

time

Lower cost to pa-tients

No waiting room of

sick pa-tients

In-centive

s such as store

coupons

Other (please

de-scribe be-low

)

No ma-jor bene-fits

0% 1000% 2000% 3000% 4000% 5000% 6000%

52%

22%

16%

4%

4%

0.0%

133.3%

66.7%

Benefits of Receiving Flu Shot at Local Pharmacy

Convenience


Q3: What are the major drawbacks to people receiving flu shots at their local pharmacy?

Nearly half of the pharmacists surveyed (44%) see no drawbacks to providing flu shots at

local retail pharmacies

Other drawbacks identified include

• Less privacy, less professional setting 31/150• Managing and preventing adverse events 29/150• Disruption in continuity of care with PCP 14/150


Disruption in con-tinuity of care Less privacy, less

professional set-ting

Managing adverse events

No major drawbacks

0%

1000%

2000%

3000%

4000%

5000%

930.0%2060.0%

1930.0%

4400.0%

Drawbacks to Providing Flu Shots in the Retail Pharmacy Setting


Q4: What level of severity do you predict for the 2013 - 2014 flu season?

2013 – 2014 flu season predictions

• Mild 17/150• Average 114/150• Worse than average 17/150• Severe 2/150

An increase in the number of people getting flu shots leads majority of surveyed pharmacists to

predict an average flu season


0%

1000%

2000%

3000%

4000%

5000%

6000%

7000%

8000%

9000%

10000%

11.3% Worse Than Average

76% Average Flu Season

11.3% Mild

1.3% Severe

Pharmacists Predict the 2013-2014 Flu Season


Bonus Question: During what month does your pharmacy administer the highest

number of flu shots?

71 % of the surveyed pharmacists indicated

October as peak month for flu shots (106 / 150)


Interested in getting market feedback from pharmacists

Drop us a line, we have Crowds of US and international based pharmacists working in both

the retail and hospital setting

These pharmacists are pre-screened and have opted-in to answer questions in real time

[email protected]

Health & Medicine

Flu Season 101: Direct From Your Local Pharmacist