Vaccination as a pharmacy service: where it stands in Germany

Since 2 July 2026 pharmacies may vaccinate adults with any inactivated vaccine. Before that, they could vaccinate only against flu and COVID-19.

What changed

The Apothekenversorgung-Weiterentwicklungsgesetz was published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, the federal law gazette, on 1 July 2026 and came into force the next day. It allows trained pharmacists to give any vaccination with an inactivated vaccine to people aged 18 and over (§ 20c(1) sentence 1 no. 3 of the Infektionsschutzgesetz, IfSG). Under § 20c(4) IfSG they may delegate the injection to pharmaceutical technical assistants (PTA), pharmaceutical engineers and pharmacists in their practical year (PhiP). These staff need their own training by a physician and work under the pharmacist’s supervision. Pharmacists may not delegate the consultation, the patient history, the consent or the documentation.

Before pharmacists can give the newly added vaccinations, they need training for them. The model curricula come from the Bundesapothekerkammer and the Bundesärztekammer, the federal chambers of pharmacists and physicians, which have until 2 September 2026 under § 20c(3) IfSG. The curriculum for flu and COVID-19 already exists, while the one for the newly added vaccinations was still being agreed in August 2026.

No pharmacy is obliged to vaccinate. Each pharmacy decides whether to offer vaccinations, and it may limit itself to particular ones.

Which vaccinations we cover

We cover ten of the vaccinations the law now allows. Each linked page is what patients see when they look up that vaccination here.

• Tick-borne encephalitis (TBE)
• Flu
• COVID-19
• Tetanus / Diphtheria / Whooping cough / Polio
• Hepatitis A / Hepatitis B
• Pneumococcal disease
• RSV
• Shingles
• Meningococcal B
• Meningococcal ACWY

What a pharmacy needs

A pharmacy needs trained pharmacists, a suitable room, emergency readiness, and a way to document each vaccination and report suspected harm. Each is set out in full under requirements for vaccinating.

Training

§ 20c(1) sentence 1 no. 1 IfSG requires training by a physician, with successful participation confirmed. Subsection 2 lists what it has to cover, including administering the vaccination, the consultation, the patient history, knowledge of contraindications and emergency measures for acute reactions.

According to the ABDA, the federal association of German pharmacists, the curriculum for flu and COVID-19 comprises 14 teaching units of 45 minutes, with self-study, a practical part and proof of first-aid training.

Under § 20c(1) sentence 2 IfSG, pharmacists who completed the training that applied until 1 July 2026 may go on vaccinating against flu and COVID-19 without further training. For the other inactivated vaccines they need supplementary training.

Premises

The pharmacy needs a suitable room with a waiting area and the necessary equipment. Under § 4(1) sentence 2 no. 5 of the Apothekenbetriebsordnung (ApBetrO), the regulation on running a pharmacy, every room has to be reachable without leaving the pharmacy. § 4(4) no. 4 ApBetrO expressly exempts a room used for vaccinations from this rule, the Raumeinheit.

Floors and surfaces have to be wet-cleanable and disinfectable, and the pharmacy needs a hygiene plan for the room. Ask your supervisory authority what it requires beyond that, because the federal states handle this differently.

Emergency readiness

The room has to allow immediate action if a patient reacts to the vaccination, with the right equipment and a written emergency plan. The emergency medicines belong in the vaccination room itself.

Documentation and reporting

Under § 22 IfSG each vaccination has to be documented without delay in the patient’s vaccination record, or in a vaccination certificate if they do not bring one. The entry has to include, among other things, the name and date of birth of the person vaccinated, the name and address of the person responsible for the vaccination, and that person’s confirmation.

Under § 6(1) no. 3 IfSG, suspected harm to health beyond the usual extent of a vaccination reaction has to be reported by name to the Gesundheitsamt, the local public health office.

What it brings in

Part of the fee for vaccinations is not yet finally settled. Whether vaccinating pays for your pharmacy depends on these items:

• the fee per vaccination, which is set by contract
• the purchase price of the vaccine and the retax risk
• the staff time that the consultation, the vaccination and the observation period take together
• waste from opened or expired stock when too few appointments are booked
• the one-off cost of training and equipment

How a pharmacy gets listed here and takes bookings online is explained under list your pharmacy.