Introduction Recently, pharmacists in Germany were allowed to administer influenza and COVID-19 vaccines for people aged 12 years and older in order to increase vaccination coverage rates. To adapt pharmacy curriculum for clinical practice, an innovative, high level vaccination training course comprising clinical skills, techniques required for level of competence was developed with participants interacting either with a high-fidelity simulator or low-fidelity injection pad. Clinical scenarios to manage adverse events were also implemented.

Methods A randomized controlled trial using a pre-post-design with pharmacy undergraduates alongside with a theoretical part was performed. The intervention group interacted with a high-fidelity simulator, while the control group was trained with low-fidelity injection pads. Before and after the respective training each participant went through an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) and each participant completed a self-assessment questionnaire and knowledge quiz.

Results OSCE Score were raised through an analytical checklist examining skills in anamnesis, patient information, vaccination process, and handling emergency case. Both training methods showed a significant (p<0,01) increase of skills but a significant (p<0,01) greater increase in the intervention group compared to the control group, particularly in vaccination process (p=0,007). Both Groups showed a similar increase of self-assessment score raised through a 6-point-Likert scale, and no significant differences were observed in the quizzes.

Conclusions High fidelity simulation proves to be an appropriate tool to train pharmacy students for vaccine administration, as a new pharmaceutical service and enable the students to recognize and manage adverse events.