GPs ready to start vaccinations 'in a week's time' reveals BMA head
6 December 2020, 12:59
BMA chair reveals vaccine can be provided by late next week
The head of the British Medical Association insists that surgeries are geared up to administer Covid-19 vaccines by the 14th of December.
"How ready are GPs to begin rolling this out?" Tom Swarbrick asked Dr Richard Vautrey, the chairman of the British Medical Association. The UK has announced that Covid-19 vaccines will be rolled out en-masse in the coming weeks.
Dr Vautrey revealed that he "would anticipate that they would be ready to vaccinate people in a week's time, which is really good news."
He noted that his projection is "clearly dependent on the availability of a vaccine," with some organisations in the UK getting priority access to the vaccine.
Dr Vautrey told Tom he can assume that GPs will begin administering vaccines "the week of the 14th of December."
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Tom wondered whether the BMA will be moving resources from other areas of medical practice to facilitate the mass inoculation of the British public.
"This will mirror what we do on a regular basis," said Dr Vautrey, reminding Tom that the UK underwent its largest flu vaccination programme this year and the Covid-19 roll out will be similar.
"We'll be targeting a much more limited group to start with," the BMA chair explained, adding "we'll want to expand that as quickly as the vaccine becomes available."
When Tom asked what healthy people keen to get vaccinated should do when the vaccine begins to be administered, Dr Vautrey insisted that people should "wait until they've been contacted," and only then will they be vaccinated.
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