Health News
Estelle Shirbon
Andrew MacAskill
LONDON (Reuters) – British doctors have said that a government decision to postpone a discus shot for coronavirus vaccine to vulnerable patients who have already had a first dose is disturbing and disruptive, their union said on Thursday.
The government said on Wednesday it wants to give a first dose to as many people as possible before administering boosters at 12 weeks, in an effort to provide more protection to more people more quickly.
But Dr Richard Vautrey, chair of the British Medical Association (BMA) committee for local GPs, said it was “unfair to tens of thousands of our patients at greatest risk to try to reschedule their appointments now”.
For the newly approved vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and manufactured by AstraZeneca, which will be rolled out in the UK next week, the plan is in line with the finding that protection against the virus is expected to last a maximum of 12 weeks.
But in the case of the Pfizer / BioNTech shot already given, the manufacturer said the shot was not evaluated on the dosing schedules that differ from the recommended 21 days.
According to the BMA, numerous doctors said the new approach would harm vulnerable patients and create logistical problems for healthcare professionals.
‘The BMA believes it is patients who have already been promised … that they will receive a second dose of Pfizer vaccination next week; they gave their permission to receive it and expected to have it right, ”the BMA said.
The health ministry said on Thursday that more than 944,000 people had received the Pfizer vaccine by December 27.
The BMA said it would support any doctors who decide to abide by existing bounty appointments, and insists the government provide a “scientifically-based justification” for its new approach.
In a joint statement, chief medical officers from across the UK said they acknowledged that the request to reschedule appointments would be difficult and would make patients looking forward to being fully immunized anxious.
‘In terms of protecting priority groups, a model where we can vaccinate twice the number of people in the next 2-3 months is, of course, better preferred in terms of public health than one where we vaccinate half the number, but with just a little more protection, ”they said.