THE NHS immunisation programme will get further momentum as hundreds of local vaccination services run by General Practitioners (GPs) will open across England this week, covering every part of the country.
GPs in more than 100 parts of the country took delivery of the vaccine on Monday(14), with some kicking off their clinics this afternoon and the majority starting on Tuesday(15), said a statement.
Nurses, paramedics, pharmacists and other NHS staff will work alongside GPs to vaccinate those aged 80 and over, as well as care home workers and residents, identified as priority groups for the life-saving vaccine.
Residents of care homes in England will also receive their first vaccine later this week after distributors finalise new, stringent processes to ensure safe delivery of the PfizerBioNTech vaccine, it further said.
“GPs, nurses, pharmacists and other primary care staff are eager to play their part in protecting people against coronavirus. This is the greatest vaccination programme ever undertaken by the NHS and, to help vaccinate people safely we will be working with local communities to deliver it in convenient and familiar settings," said Dr Nikki Kanani, practising GP and NHS director of primary care.
“As a GP I am proud to be part of this huge national effort to protect our patients against the virus and I would urge the public to come forward when they are called up for the vaccine.”
Last week, 90-year-old Margaret Keenan in Coventry became the first person in the world to receive a vaccine against Covid-19.
The latest phase of the vaccine roll-out is being co-ordinated by GP-led primary care networks with more practices and community pharmacies in other parts of England.
Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “There are also logistical challenges but general practice has an excellent track record of delivering mass vaccination programmes, and we want to use this experience to help protect people from Covid-19 and start getting life back to normal again.
"We won’t be vaccinating everyone all at once - it will be a relatively small number at first - but as long as there is supply, GPs and our teams at selected sites will start vaccinating people this week, starting with our most vulnerable patients."
He added that patients will be contacted and invited for vaccination and there is no need to contact their practice enquiring about it.
Damian Talbot