COVID-19: 8th December round-up for primary care
Yesterday we wrote to wave one PCN designated sites who will begin vaccinating patients from Tuesday 15 December. We are extremely grateful to these sites for being at the forefront of such a critical vaccination programme. We will be holding a series of webinars over the coming days including one on Thursday 10 December at 5.30pm for anyone in primary care seeking further updates on the COVID-19 vaccine rollout.
Dr Keith Ridge, CBE Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for England, has also written to CCG chief pharmacists and heads of medicines optimisation on the governance, handling, and preparation of the COVID-19 vaccines.
This is a fast-moving environment and we are doing all we can to get information and guidance to you as quickly as possible. Please do check the FutureNHS workspace regularly as this is a central resource for information and includes a forum for asking questions which we will do our best to respond to.
COVID-19 vaccinations and care homes: programme launch
Helen Whately, Minister for Care, has written to care homes [for older adults], local authority chief executives, and directors of adult social services, outlining plans for getting the first COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech) to care home staff, from the first day vaccinations are available. The initial focus is on vaccinating care home workers and the over 80s. Vaccines will be available from Tuesday 8 December 2020, initially in up to 50 Hospital Hubs across England.
Update on central supplies of flu vaccines
The initial allocation of QIVe, QIVc and QIVr (Flublok) which was allocated to GP practices and NHS providers has now been ordered. In response to this demand, additional doses of QIVc have been made available. If GP practices or NHS providers need further stock, they should now order Adjuvanted Trivalent Influenza Vaccine (aTIV) for those over 65 years old or Cell-grown Quadrivalent Influenza Vaccine (QIVc) for those under 65 years old. Both of these vaccines are currently available from Seqirus.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) guidance to GPs has been updated to reflect this latest change of supplier, and you should contact Seqirus at dhscvaccines@seqirus.com to request an order form and then send back the completed order form to the same email address. We expect the Seqirus stock to run out shortly, but the guidance will continue to be updated with which suppliers have stock, particularly for under 65s, so please refer to it if you are unable to get stock from Seqirus.
Practices should refer to the updated guidance for information on how to access vaccines from suppliers.
Ensuring local supply of flu vaccine
Practices are reminded that they can access additional flu vaccine supplies from centrally procured stock once their own local stocks are depleted. The MHRA has granted a dispensation to allow movement of vaccines locally between practices and other NHS provider organisations and we would encourage you to work with your regional NHSEI Public Health Commissioning team to understand what stock is available locally before accessing the additional supply. Practices may also wish to liaise with other providers within their Primary Care Network. The additional supply should only be used when there are no other alternative options to accessing more vaccines.
COVID-19: 10th December round-up for primary care
Tuesday’s scenes of the first patients receiving the COVID vaccine were genuinely inspiring and it is heart-warming to see NHS staff pulling together to protect patients and healthcare workers from this pernicious virus. We know the next phase of the vaccine rollout is daunting, but we are confident that primary care can rise to the challenge and we will do all we can to support you. We all have a part to play, regardless of whether you are directly setting up a vaccination site or supporting your local delivery team. The standard operating procedure for the deployment of local vaccination services has been published and describes the operating model and design requirements for the safe delivery of COVID-19 vaccines in the community.
MHRA have issued further guidance about the use of the Pfizer BionTech vaccine in those with a history of allergy. The MHRA have also explicitly advised that a 15 minute observation period needs to be reinstated and we will consider the operational consequences of this for vaccination centres.
The chief pharmaceutical officer Dr Keith Ridge has written to CCG lead pharmacists and chief officers to set out the principles and expectations necessary to maintain integrity, and therefore safety, quality and effectiveness, of the COVID-19 vaccines. The novel characteristics of the first vaccine (Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT 162b2) make it essential that very careful attention is given to its receipt, storage, movement / transportation, and preparation.
The letter sets out the legal basis and expectations of The Human Medicines Regulations 2012, Regulation 174 for temporary authorisation of the supply of vaccine products, and what this means for GP leads, CCG lead pharmacists and other registered healthcare professionals in primary care teams. It also provides a model NHS COVID-19 Primary Care Vaccine Handling and Management Policy which will support practices and primary care networks to implement good governance.
25% increase in PPE Portal order limits over the Christmas period
The DHSC Portal will be operational over Christmas. Their delivery partners (Royal Mail and their Pallet Carrier) will not be delivering on Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Orders made during this time should still be delivered within 5 days. To make allowance for any potential disruptions or increased need, DHSC have increased order limits by 25% for all providers, as of Tuesday 8 December, and until at least 4 January. Call the customer service team on 0800 876 6802 if you have any questions about using the PPE portal. The team is available from 7am to 7pm, 7 days a week, to help resolve your queries. The latest guidance for the PPE Portal, including order limits for the different types and sizes of provider, is available.
Updated flu stock ordering guidance for pharmacies
The pharmacy guidance on accessing central flu vaccine stock has been updated to include details of those wholesalers with stock. Additional stock can be accessed from Alliance Healthcare, McKesson UK and PHOENIX Healthcare Distribution.
Flu vaccination for care home staff
Enhanced Health in Care Homes (EHCH) leads are being asked to encourage care homes staff to get their flu vaccination in December. To facilitate this, EHCH leads are asked to contact local pharmacies and explore vaccination options, including the pharmacist visiting the care home. Stocks of flu vaccine are available now at pharmacies, and e-booking is offered by some. A new blog by a community pharmacist outlines how her team has been working closely with local care homes to ensure teams are well protected this winter. Social care workers are a priority cohort for flu vaccination, and no ID is required. Guidance for social care workers and employers is available.
New pharmacy flu vaccine finder
A new community pharmacy flu vaccine finder will go live on the NHS website on Tuesday 15 December. The tool will allow users to find local pharmacies that provide the NHS commissioned service and check their eligibility.
Your pharmacy will be listed in search results if you have added this service to your NHS website profile. Please review your NHS website profile to check it accurately reflects whether you are providing seasonal flu vaccinations this year.
Registered profile editors can use the profile editor to add or remove the service from your profile. For further support, please contact the NHS website service desk.
Volunteers sought for new national panel to advise on PPE experiences
The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) National COVID PPE team is looking for volunteers from a range of roles within community pharmacy, to take part in a new national panel to discuss their experiences relating to personal protective equipment (PPE).
The panel is expected to help set up a long term, sustainable process for gathering information on PPE usage and inform decision making and improvement plans with frontline perspectives.
The panel will meet fortnightly initially, moving to monthly in the new year. To express an interest or request further information contact Moira.philpott@dhsc.gov.uk.
Reminder: update the NHS 111 Directory of Services with Christmas and New Year opening hours
It is important that primary care providers update their NHS 111 Directory of Services (DoS) entry with accurate opening hours for the Christmas and New Year period (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Bank Holiday substitute day on Monday 28 December, New Year’s Eve, and New Year’s Day).
Community pharmacy can use the DoS Profile Updater to update the DoS. General practice and dentistry should contact their local DoS Lead to update the DoS. Contact details for DoS Leads can be accessed via the DoS Provider and Commissioner Helpline 0300 0200 363. Providers should update their DoS entry as soon as possible.
We and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), who have overall responsibility for medicines supply have written to primary care and community pharmacy organisations reassuring colleagues that actions have been taken to help ensure medicines continue to be available and that any supply disruptions are mitigated once the United Kingdom leaves the EU on 31 December 2020.
