We've noticed your using a old browser this may cause issuse when experincing our site. We recommend updating your browser here this provides the latest browsers for you to download. This just makes sure your experince our website and all others websites in the best possible way. Close

NEWS: Practices on standby for December vaccination drive

The British government wants to begin COVID-19 vaccination early next month if the Pfizer mRNA vaccine can gain approval, health secretary Matt Hancock has said.

The project may lead to reductions in GP services as staff are deployed to run vaccination centres, senior doctors have warned. Mr Hancock conceded that vaccination would be a “mammoth logistical operation” but said news of it would “inject hope into millions of arms this winter.”

He said: “The logistics are complex, the uncertainties are real and the scale of the job is vast, but I know that the NHS, brilliantly assisted by the armed services, will be up to the task. It is next summer before the next vaccine candidate comes on stream and so the focus of the roll out plan at the moment is on delivering the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca projects if they pass the safety tests.”

According to the plans, the NHS would deliver more than a million vaccinations a week, giving priority to the over 65s. Pfizer said yesterday that the vaccines would have an effective life of up to five days when refrigerated at temperatures of up to 8C. It says it has developed containers that will keep the vaccines “ultracold” for up to ten days after they leave their main storage depots, where they must be kept at minus 70C.

NHS England medical director for primary care Dr Nikki Kamani wrote to senior GPs yesterday, suggesting practices might have to “prioritise” clinical activity.

Ruth Rankine, director of the primary care network at the NHS Confederation, said: “We are pleased that NHS England and NHS Improvement has recognised the critical role that primary care has to play in the roll-out of the new COVID vaccine, in particular the ability of general practice to operate at scale through primary care networks. We need to see the detailed specification but are acutely conscious of the tight timescales practices and PCNs will have to consider and respond. This will be complex to plan and operationalise and we welcome the requirement for clinical commissioning groups to support primary care to meet the requirements set out. Delivery of a vaccination programme on this scale from scratch means business as usual is not feasible so public expectations will need to be managed at a national level.”

Rating

GP Practice News

GP news from Practice Index.

View all posts by GP Practice News
Primary care news round-up (12th to 18th January 2024)

January 18, 2024

New! Microsoft Essentials for Primary Care eLearning

January 18, 2024

No comments yet.

Leave a Reply

Get in the know!
newsletterpopup close icon
practice index weekly

Subscribe to the Weekly, our free email newsletter.

Keeping you updated and connected.