In an interview with Drug Topics, Hashim Zaibak, PharmD, CEO of Hayat Pharmacy, emphasized that all pharmacy employees, including frontline staff like pharmacy technicians and cashiers, must take an active role in building trust with patients and providing clear information about vaccines.1
According to Zaibak, public distrust in routine vaccination, commonly referred to as vaccine hesitancy, continues to persist despite advancements in vaccine technology and expanded access during events like the COVID-19 pandemic. He emphasized the importance of effective communication from pharmacy staff to tackle what he called “misinformation” and provide them with trusted clinical advice.2
In the interview, Zaibak said that staff needs to use motivational interviewing with the patient to convince them to get a vaccine. He stated:
I think [it involves] training providers and the frontliners, even the pharmacy technicians and the cashiers, on how to handle patients who have this mistrust, and how to have the pharmacist talk to them, utilizing techniques like motivational interviewing, asking the open-ended questions, finding the real reason people are worried about vaccines.3
Missouri Expands Pharmacy Employee Roles in Delivery of Vaccines
In July 2024, in Missouri, community health workers (CHWs), community pharmacists, and the Community Pharmacy Enhanced Services Network (CPESN) partnered to launch a state-funded program aimed at promoting vaccine uptake. The initiative, supported by a grant from the Missouri Department of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), positioned pharmacy technicians trained as CHWs to engage in vaccine education and outreach. While designed to address “vaccine hesitancy” and improve vaccination rates, the program relied heavily on medication synchronization infrastructure and delegated key clinical functions to non-clinician staff such as pharmacy technicians.4
Over six months, more than 28,000 interventions were reported, with around 22,000 patients engaged across more than 75 percent of Missouri ZIP codes. Preliminary data show an approximately 6.6 percent increase in vaccination rates. While the program reportedly generated an estimated $8.7 million in healthcare cost savings, the relatively modest improvement in vaccination uptake raises questions about the overall effectiveness of relying on pharmacy-based CHWs as frontline vaccine educators. The limited sales closure rate, particularly for vaccines like influenza, suggests challenges in using this model to meaningfully increase vaccine uptake across diverse populations.5
Despite the program’s intent, transferring critical public health responsibilities such as vaccine counseling to pharmacy technicians and CHWs has raised concerns about the quality of patient care. Pharmacy technicians are not clinicians and do not have full access to or understanding of a patient’s medical history. Without the clinical expertise needed to discuss risks and benefits in context of the patient’s medical history, patients may not receive true informed consent before being vaccinated.
According to the American Medical Association (AMA), pharmacist education focuses on the chemistry of medications and scientific evidence, not on providing medical care to patients. Pharmacists are medication experts, but they are not trained to take on the role of a primary care physician.6
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Click here to view References:1 Nowosielski B. Pharmacy Training Crucial for Addressing Distrust in Vaccines. Drug Topics Aug. 4, 2025.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Eisenbeis A. & Stone, A. The Perfect Ingredient: Vaccine Education With Pharmacy Community Health Workers. Pharmacy Times Aug. 24, 2024.
5 Ibid.
6 Smith T. What’s the difference between pharmacists and physicians? AMA Feb. 5, 2024.
19 Responses
Stupid is as stupid does.
Physicians don’t even get proper vaccine information training. Yeah, nothing could possibly go wrong here. It’s about as brilliant as offering an OTC birth control pill option. We are 100% cooked…
Then hopefully they will see fewer people at that window.
As a pharmacist for over 45 years, I find this author (and his/her affiliations) entirely industry-biased in their promotion of an untested, unsafe, and wholly ineffective class of pharmaceutical products. They have obviously been incentivized by the manufacturers to print such blatant and unsound propaganda, nor have they done their own independent research to find the actual adverse effects from the manufacturers’ clinical trials, or nonexistent toxicology studies, or even scanned VAERS for the past 5 years to realize these are powerful toxins, which are now known to be harmful to all living creatures for generations. In a democratic republic such as ours where citizens have inalienable, constitutional rights to freedom of choice, any product with known risks should never be forced on anyone to receive.
Thank you! It’s good to hear more health professionals speak the truth!
Does Mr. Zaibak have any idea about what many people believe about the vaccine industry today? The last 5 years have revealed just how far the medical/pharmaceutical industry will go to make obscene profits. Does he realize how many people have been harmed or know someone who has been harmed, some permanently, some fatally with vaccines? I know a couple who lost two grown sons, in their 40s within months of vaccination. I don’t have vaccine hesitation, I am terrified of them and believe my health is better without them.
They can build the trust by clearly disclosing how much they are paid to push every shot.
Then they can build the trust by taking a shot themselves personally every time they give it to someone else.
And finally; They can stop shoving needles and pointy objects at their patients. Stop acting like drug pimps.
Trust… They treat the issue of trust as something that can be conditioned into people. Trust is not taken. Trust is not given. Trust can not be forced by deception or repetition.
Trust is earned. Through merit. Through proven success. Through honestly.
All the qualities the pharmasuetical industry lacks, and will never ever attain.
👍🏻
Yes, they have been instructed to continue to push dangerous poisons contained in every vaccination on the public. The question of trust is whether or not you believe you can survive being continuously poisoned by injections.
These articles indicate that pharmacists and pharmacy techs are being trained to overcome “vaccine hesitancy” by promoting vaccines rather than providing scientific information or encouraging patients to research the past 4 years of data. “Vaccine hesitancy” has been fueled by loss of trust in government which has based recommendations on meaningless platitudes (“the science is settled”) ignoring unprecedented deaths and adverse reactions associated with the covid injection and vaccines containing mercury and aluminum, and started too early and given simultaneously. The information offered in your articles does not indicate that pharmacists are studying recent reviews of vaccines developed with valid control groups and sound statistical design and methodology. I believe that the religion of vaccinology is finally disintegrating, and the public is demanding informed consent based on information about adjuvants and longitudinal research from scientists, physicians, pharmacists and media. There is no short cut for this process. The public will err on the side of caution until bona fide research and consequent reduction of disease and death restore public confidence.
Clearly this is nothing more than sales training. Simply “legal” drug vendors trying to get their profits back up. Vaccine hesitancy? Let’s call it what it is – sales resistance. No one likes being scammed.
The man who wrote the article in praise of vaccinations is either a worthless whore for big pharma, a pig-headed idiot who is in love with his stance regardless of true data, simply stupid, or a non-human species working to delete humans from the Earth
The man in the article , Mr. Zaibak , in praise of vaccinations , is either a worthless whore for big pharma, a pig-headed idiot who is in love with his stance regardless of true data, simply stupid, or a non-human species working to delete humans from the Earth
Pushing more (professional) people to tell more lies…disgusting!
Follow the money!
Zaibak, CEO of Hayat Pharmacy, clearly doesn’t understand informed consent. If he did, he would know that his job is to deliver valid, verifiable evidence of safety, efficacy and risk. Zaibak is not a medical professional but rather a drug salesman. If the pharmacist profession had any integrity, they would distance from these comments of Zaibak.
“Vaccine hesitancy,” LOL. NOPE, not “hesitant” – I’m fully-aware and rationally REFUSE them.
Too bad. The C19 vaccine destroyed CDC credibility. First step would be admit what happened. Waiting…
with more information their will be less hesitant. once people know the truth it will be easier and quicker to decide.
If you don’t want a vaccine why are you near a pHARNacy?
How can more vaccine reduce health cost?????
I seems like there is some misinformation. pHARNacy should have information about their products.
Yes, they make a claim that there is an 8.7 million dollar healthcare savings by people taking a shot of poison in the arm. They have NO evidence for this claim. They assume that the shots are preventing diseases with NO evidence. All baseless claims. As youu point out, more vaccination can never reduce health costs as they are responsible for many chronic health conditions.