At last! 1.5m shots from early February thanks to new deal

GPS and pharmacists can start giving hundreds of vaccinations a day from next month, following a Government agreement.

The Cabinet has signed off on a deal so that healthcare workers can administer the jab to more than 1.5million people.

They will be paid €60 for each patient vaccinated, which ministers hope will begin in early February, once the AstraZeneca shot is approved by the European Medicines Agency, and supplies have been delivered.

Dr Denis McCauley, chairman of the Irish Medical Organisation’s GP committee, said there has been a ‘concerted effort’ to get GPs and the practice teams vaccinated as quickly as possible.

‘We’re preparing ourselves to be the main vaccinators,’ he said.

‘We would see general practices as a core element of the mass vaccination campaign.

‘The European Medicines Agency is hopefully going to approve AstraZeneca and then if we get our supply, there will be a significant uplift in the amount of vaccinations given.

‘If the supply is there, the GPs will be able to give it at the rate we normally give a vaccination.’

Dr McCauley said that he hopes the supply will allow GPs and pharmacists to start vaccinating the next two priority groups, including the over-70s and at-risk group.

‘They will be contacted, an appointment will be given and we will get them in and get them done,’ he said.

He added that he understood the rush to get the vaccine, saying: ‘We are aware that people are eager and keen; we’re aware that if they know a GP has the vaccine and they’re not getting it, they will get frustrated and maybe even angry.’

GPs and pharmacies could get through as many as 300 vaccinations a day, according to Dr McCauley, with the majority (90%) of GPs having already had their first shot of the jab.

‘We have been reacting to the virus all the time, so this is the chance to get ahead of it and we know we can participate in that,’ he added.

The deal was also welcomed by Sinn Féin health spokesman David Cullinane who described it as a ‘game-changer’.

‘If we can get to a point where AstraZeneca is certified and we’re getting more doses in – hopefully over 100,000 a week coming in – the role of GPs and pharmacies will come front and centre,’ he said.

‘We need to make sure that when that is certified, that we have some sense of how many doses we can get in really quickly.

He added: ‘I know from engagement with [AstraZeneca] that they’ve done a huge amount of advanced manufacturing.

‘I think it’s possible to get our hands on huge quantities of that vaccine very quickly. Then the question is: how quickly can we get the administration of it done?’

However pharmacists, while welcoming the deal, have said they must now be vaccinated, if they’re expected to lead community vaccinations from next month.

Darragh O’Loughlin, secretary general of the Irish Pharmacy Union, said it is essential that pharmacy staff themselves now be vaccinated without delay.

‘Pharmacists, as with anyone giving the vaccine, must be vaccinated themselves in order to do so safely,’ he said.

‘People using pharmacy services, especially medically vulnerable patients, deserve the assurance that their pharmacist and pharmacy team have been vaccinated.

‘Any further delays in vaccinating pharmacists could severely impact the pace of the national roll-out.’