Axing 15-minute post-vaccine wait could double number of Covid boosters given by GPs

GPs will be delaying all non-essential work to focus on delivering the booster campaign in the coming weeks. Picture: AP Photo/Panagiotis Balaskas

If the 15-minute waiting time post-vaccine was eliminated, GPs could double the number of boosters they could administer in one day, according to the chair of the Irish Medical Organisation’s GP committee.

Speaking this afternoon, Dr Dennis McCauley said that he agreed with the Government’s booster campaign strategy which he described as proactive rather than reactive. 

He said GPs had agreed to be “very engaged” in the booster campaign with the aim of getting the third dose to as many people as possible in the next four weeks.

GPs would be urging the public not to make non-urgent appointments for the next few weeks as the priority for GPs would be in rolling out the booster campaign, he said.

Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s News at Onehe urged the public to "put a booster on your Christmas list.” 

“The best way you can protect yourself and the country is to get the booster vaccine,” he said.

Dr McCauley said that at the peak of the vaccination campaign last summer GPs had carried out 150,000 vaccinations per week, he hoped that figure could be achieved again.

Earlier, Dr Mary Favier, Covid lead for the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), said GPs are hoping to double the number of booster vaccines they administer from the current level of 80,000 per week.

“We need everybody to cooperate on this,” she added. GPs will be delaying all non-essential work to focus on delivering the booster campaign in the coming weeks.

The booster vaccines will be administered on an appointment basis with supplies being ordered today, so it was likely to be next week before the campaign would commence in earnest. GPs would need to plan the campaign and would call patients when they were due their booster.

Post-vaccine wait

Dr Favier also said that the 15-minute post-vaccine wait time was “a significant challenge” for GPs. She told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland it was “a big limiting step” and if removed, as had been done in the UK, it would allow GPs to vaccinate more patients.

A decision on removing the time limit would be up to the Government and Niac and would be “a game-changer” she said.

When asked if schools should close early for the Christmas break this weekend, Dr Favier said that there was no one answer on how to address Covid. The pandemic required a multi-layered approach, she added. Masks, hand washing, distancing, ventilation all played a role and schools were also a factor.

It was always going to be a balance, if children were out of school how would parents go to work and staffing levels in the health service were always an issue, she said.

Dr Favier said it was up to everyone as individuals to monitor their personal behaviour. She warned that if someone tested positive for Covid-19 today they would still be in isolation on Christmas Day.

Meanwhile, the president of the UK Faculty of Public Health, Professor Maggie Rae has said that Omicron cases are going to increase whether or not borders are managed as it was already in the community.

It was important to “get the message out” about the importance of getting vaccinated and the booster vaccine, she told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

Prof Rae said that while she could lament the lack of notice for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plans to double the level of booster vaccination, the NHS would “step up” to protect the public.

Everyone was mobilising, she said, at present the NHS was carrying out half a million booster vaccines per day, it would require everyone being very committed to double that figure.

As of Wednesday morning the Omicron variant made up 44% of Covid cases in London, she said. Within 48 hours she expected it to become the dominant variant.

In Ireland the public were “much better than the UK ” at mask wearing. If people continued to be prepared “to do the right thing” – wearing masks, hand washing, and keeping their homes ventilated, that would help.

“The virus has taken us on a roller coaster ride.” Prof Rae said that all pandemics come to an end, the question was when would the Covid-19 pandemic end. “When will the WHO announce that the pandemic is over?

“It’s going to be several years.” Prof Rae said that next year would be a better year. The vaccine was “a scientific miracle” and the task now was to get more of the world vaccinated.