NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme

It was the one year anniversary on Wednesday for the NHS COVID-19 Vaccination programme. Since its inception, GPs and their teams all over the country have played a pivotal role in rolling out at pace the most successful vaccination campaign to date. The NHS has delivered now over 100m doses in just 12 months, including 18m booster jabs. The lion’s share of this vaccination program has been delivered by General Practice, its been a massive undertaking at significant personal costs for many of you, a huge team effort delivered in partnership with your communities. In coming days and weeks many of you will continue to step up to the national priority of boosting this country through a surge of Omicron. Thank you for all that you have achieved and all that you will continue to do for your communities and for this nation. To support you in this national effort, changes to the vaccination schedule now allow greater flexibility to move vaccines to individual practices.

Moving vaccines within a PCN grouping

Considering the need to rapidly expand capacity, the MHRA has expanded the circumstances in which the COVID-19 vaccine may be moved from a PCN Grouping’s designated site(s) to another location. GP practices within a PCN Grouping may move COVID-19 vaccine from their Designated Site to collaborating individual GP practices within the PCN Grouping to increase the possibility of opportunistic administration of the vaccination to increase take up of the vaccine. Movement continues to be subject to:
• all requirements and guidance on the movement, storage and handling of COVID-19 vaccines
being adhered to;
• there being no onward movement of the vaccine. For example, it is not permitted for a PCN
to transport the COVID-19 vaccine from the PCN Grouping’s designated site(s) to a
collaborating individual GP practice and then onto a pop-up site or care home etc; and
• the arrangements being reflected in the PCN Grouping’s Collaboration Agreement
The NHSE template Collaboration Agreement has now been updated to reflect these changes