Practices have been ordered to step up vaccination programmes for care homes – completing first doses by 24 January.

New guidance from NHS England orders practices to concentrate on care homes and offers a £30 fee for each care home resident vaccinated before 17 January. The fee is a £20 increase on the standard fee that had been offered. The fee falls to £20 a patient the following week, the Health Service Journal reported.

NHS England says Ministry of Defence medical services are on standby to help practices.

A letter from the director of primary care Dr Nikki Kanani states: “Whilst vaccination against COVID may be temporarily deferred in some individuals e.g. acutely unwell or still within four weeks of onset of COVID symptoms, all other staff and care home residents in a care home where an outbreak is occurring must receive prompt COVID vaccination. There is no evidence of any safety concerns from vaccinating individuals with a past history of COVID-19 infection, or with detectable COVID-19 antibody.”