“Unprecedented”. We’ve heard this word used time and time again to describe the unparalleled impact of the Coronavirus pandemic. But with over 170 years at the heart of community healthcare in the UK, Boots has lived through many crises, and each time the company has delivered on our duty to care for the nation during times of need.
Boots just recently launched its first COVID-19 vaccination site, but we have in fact championed mass immunization long before the inauguration of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) in 1948. Over the years, not only have the reassuring lights from Boots pharmacies been a warm and welcoming reminder that essential healthcare is available on the high street, but they have also helped accelerate access to some of the latest advances in pharmaceutical medicine.
From diphtheria and meningitis vaccinations, to cervical cancer and COVID-19, discover how Boots has been putting the ‘nation’ into ‘vaccination’ by taking a look at its vaccine history…
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In the mid-1920s, Boots collaborated with St Thomas’ Hospital in London to provide samples of a gonococcal vaccine that was used in its clinics. Boots transferred the vaccines into sterilised ampoules and vials to help make it more widely available to the medical profession, and each batch was tested in Boots Bacteriological laboratory before being issued. By the 1940s, these vaccines were available from all Boots stores.
Boots’ research team, which was based in the UK retailer’s hometown of Nottingham, also prepared bespoke vaccinations by isolating patients’ micro-organisms and then using them to provide immunity to the same individual.
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One of the most pressing public healthcare issues during the Second World War was diphtheria, the leading cause of death of school-age children at the time.
Despite positive results in the US and Canada, Britain was slow to introduce a mass vaccination program. Boots took matters into its own hands by issuing an information leaflet for medical professionals in February 1940, urging action:
“What is needed is not a half-hearted effort, but a downright statement of the advantages of immunization against diphtheria. Political hedging will achieve nothing… a nation-wide campaign is needed.”
Soon thereafter, as millions of people were evacuating from urban areas due to the threat of wartime attacks, the government initiated a free diphtheria immunization programme to help prevent a public health outbreak.
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A vaccine for tuberculosis, B.C.G., was administered to children in France in the 1920s. But despite having a positive impact on death rates, other countries were reluctant to rollout the vaccine.
Understanding the importance of vaccinations, Boots produced an eight-page leaflet on the B.C.G vaccine for medical professionals in 1947. Not only did it contain the latest scientific information, but it also highlighted the vaccine’s efficacy and safety-record.
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Since the Second World War, vaccines have been developed for a number of significant diseases, yet controversy still surrounded vaccination initiatives. Because of this, the British Government turned to high street pharmacies to help provide accurate healthcare information.
In 2000, Boots went one step further and took part in a pilot project offering flu vaccinations in 21 Boots stores in commuter locations. The vaccines were only available for one day; cost £7.50 per patient; and were administered by nurses. The initiative complemented the NHS programme by offering flu vaccinations to people who were not eligible for a free NHS vaccine.
Now, Boots has been helping to protect the nation from flu for over twenty years through its in-store Winter Flu vaccination program.
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In 2008, Boots continued to champion the importance of vaccines. The UK’s leading pharmacy-led, health and beauty retailer launched a pilot scheme in 10 London stores that offered a cervical cancer vaccination service. A series of three injections were available to women aged between 18 and 26 to immunize them against two forms of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which was known to be responsible for 70% of cervical cancer cases.
Built on the national vaccination service delivered by the NHS, the service later became available in 135 Boots stores across England and Wales in 2009, with availability extended to women aged 18-54.
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Boots UK’s Cambridge store proudly became the retailer’s first location to provide a dedicated high street health clinic. Introduced in 2011, the trial service offered customers a one-to-one consultation with a specialist travel nurse, who could create a personalised travel health plan and supply any relevant medication or vaccination. Within several months, it was extended to over 100 stores.
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In November 2015, 52 Boots stores began offering the Meningitis B vaccination. This enabled parents to protect children outside of the age range covered by the NHS immunization program.
One year later, Boots launched a pilot scheme in 26 stores that provided the Pneumonia vaccination to people over the age of 50. Complementing the NHS service, Boots helped to provide those who fell within an at-risk age group and those who were not eligible within the NHS scheme with a way to help protect their health.
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And this January, during the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, Boots UK started to deliver COVID-19 vaccinations to help support NHS England with vaccinating the nation.
With its extensive knowledge, experience and proven capability in vaccination services, Boots worked with local commissioning groups to launch its first site in Halifax, England. This was shortly followed by ten additional vaccination sites in pharmacies across England, with the option to expand into more Boots stores in the future. Operating from specially designed facilities within each of these pharmacies, patients are being invited directly by the NHS to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
