Advertising


News

RACGP President and Health Minister unveil GPs’ COVID vaccine role


Matt Woodley


12/01/2021 6:49:06 PM

GPs will be at the heart of one of the largest vaccination efforts in Australian history, Dr Karen Price and Greg Hunt confirmed.

RACGP President Dr Karen Price
RACGP President Dr Karen Price told Australians GPs stand ‘ready, willing and able to help’ with the COVID vaccine rollout.

General practice clinics will form a major and ongoing part of the national coronavirus vaccine rollout from phase 1b onwards, Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt has confirmed.
 
Minister Hunt made the declaration at a joint press conference with RACGP President Dr Karen Price in Canberra on Tuesday, where it was also revealed that GPs will be administering the AstraZeneca/Oxford University candidate, pending approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).
 
‘Next week we’ll be inviting all Australian general practices to participate if they wish,’ Minister Hunt said.
 
‘That will involve making sure that they’re able to participate in the Australian Immunisation Register [AIR] and record all vaccinations, [and that they are able] to undertake the appropriate training.
 
‘There’s more to be done. But when we compare the international [situation] with the Australian outcomes, we see that our doctors and our nurses have not only kept us safe, they have delivered an outcome that is in so many ways the envy of just about all of the rest of the world.
 
‘We owe, Karen, you and your fellow practitioners a deep debt of gratitude.’
 
In addressing the nation, Dr Price acknowledged the support of the Government and expressed confidence in Australia’s vaccine candidates, while reaffirming that general practice is ‘ideally placed’ to help facilitate the rollout all over the country.
 
‘We are about to roll out the largest vaccination program in recent history. Immunisation has made an enormous contribution to global health ... and this COVID vaccine [rollout] is vast,’ she said.
 
‘It is a significant major national effort which requires all of us to cooperate … [and] the RACGP is working constructively with the Government to ensure a confident vaccine rollout.
 
‘The year 2021 is the year of vaccination, and GPs stand ready, willing and able to help.’
 
Aside from general practice receiving more clarity in relation to its expected involvement in the rollout, it has also been revealed that GPs working at coronavirus respiratory clinics will be immunised during phase 1a of the Federal Government’s vaccine roadmap.
 
It was previously thought that all GPs would be vaccinated along with other frontline healthcare workers during phase 1b of the rollout, but the Department of Health has since clarified GPs’ priority status.
 
‘This is important for the protection of GPs on the frontline working in respiratory clinics, and those caring for communities across the country,’ Dr Price said.
 
‘The vaccine rollout is a complicated and logistically challenging task. Thankfully Australia is in a good place to get the job done, and do it well.
 
‘We have very low rates of the virus in Australia compared to other countries, and we have a world class general practice system that’s perfectly positioned to help.’
 
According to Minister Hunt, pharmacies will also administer vaccines during phase 2 of the rollout, despite ongoing safety concerns, in an effort to reach every Australian who would like a vaccine by October this year.
 
‘We actually have a network which produced 17 million [flu] vaccinations last year – I think that’s one of the things which is sometimes not realised,’ Minister Hunt said.
 
‘So we can do this because we did it last year. And we did it the year before.’
 
The Government will also rely on hospitals, state- and Commonwealth-run vaccination clinics, and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations to help facilitate the mass rollout, but Dr Price reiterated that general practice remains ‘one of the safest places’ for patients to receive their COVID-19 vaccine.
 
‘General practice is well positioned to support the rollout – there are GPs living and working in communities right across our country; in cities, rural towns and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,’ she said.
 
‘GPs draw on a patient history and are equipped with the necessary medical training and facilities to manage any rare adverse reactions.
 
‘There are many challenges ahead, including the need to build community confidence in the new vaccines through evidence-based information campaigns that address the community’s specific concerns and deal with misinformation and myths.
 
‘These challenges also underpin why general practice will be so crucial in the rollout. GPs are perfectly placed to increase vaccine confidence and uptake. We are connected to our communities, we know our patients and they trust us.
 
‘This is especially true for GPs who engage with culturally and linguistically diverse communities and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The GPs who live and work in these communities will know how to talk to their patients in a culturally appropriate way, and discuss any concerns patients may have.’
 
Minister Hunt concluded the joint press conference by urging all Australian to listen to the advice of Australian medical experts advising the Government, and made special mention of the ongoing contribution GPs have made, and will make, as Australia attempts to make its way out of the pandemic.
 
‘They’ll have a huge role to play going forwards in protecting Australians,’ he said.
 
‘We’re in the best hands in the world, with some of the best results in the world, and we’ll continue to keep Australians safe in 2021.’
 
Log in below to join the conversation.



coronavirus COVID-19 general practice pandemic vaccines


newsGP weekly poll On average, how many patients do not show up for their appointment at your general practice each week?
 
56%
 
18%
 
15%
 
9%
Related






newsGP weekly poll On average, how many patients do not show up for their appointment at your general practice each week?

Advertising

Advertising


Login to comment

Rural GP   13/01/2021 6:58:21 AM

This is great news. Thank you Dr Price for advocating for us. This is our chance to own Primary Health care. I dont know how it will work, how we will make it work. But in this small rural community, it has been a time for General Practice to shine. We have a data base, doctors, nurses, a car park and a tent. Give us an item number, so we can buy an extra fridge and away we go. Please just get the distribution right, learn form the Fluvax debacles . Can’t wait Happy days .


Dr Oliver Frank   13/01/2021 8:28:17 AM

Thanks Karen Price and all of our RACGP officer bearers and staff for helping to ensure that general practice plays its vital role in the immunisations.

I am concerned about reports that only 'larger' general practices will be allowed to offer some vaccines. It is important that all general practices are treated equitably and that all general practices are given the same opportunity to participate.


Dr Gillian Caron Dyer   13/01/2021 10:07:29 AM

Here in WA it can take several days to get an appointment at a respiratory cinic (i tried last week) so as a standard gp practice respiratory patients have continued to book in and be seen - they all deny COVID contact , however as we continue to be at risk unless we refuse to see respiratory cases i would consider us as frontline and should receive early dosing with Pfizer vaccine - does Greg hunt consider us dispensable ?


A.Prof Christopher David Hogan   13/01/2021 10:37:13 AM

Well done to Karen Price & all those who support us in our work for our patients & communities


Dr Ian Mark Light   13/01/2021 11:53:23 AM

There is now debate about which vaccine to roll out
AstraZeneca-Oxford Spike Protein reports near 100% protection against Severe COVID but less efficacy -64% against any COVID compared to the deep freeze mRNA Pzifer and less deep freeze mRNA Moderna which are claiming 95% efficacy against any symptomatic COVID mild -severe .
AstraZenaca Spike Protein is easier for General Practice particularly Rural and Remote no deep freeze and very little or no Severe COVID but less likely to get herd immunity .


Dr Philip William Ousby   13/01/2021 4:06:18 PM

Have been looking at articles on vaccine roll out. Am not entirely sure if it was Dr Price who made comments about the vaccination process. I think it was. The suggestion was that we would need to keep patients for 30 minutes after the vaccination as a safety precaution. This would be a completely impossible practice and to get it all done the patients would need to simply come and go and assume no severe reactions would occur. We can only just manage the flu vaccine season let alone 2 overlapping seasons. Covid precautions would prevent patients hanging around anyway. Does anybody have any comments regarding this "safety" issue?
Philip


Dr Raymond Yeow   13/01/2021 11:35:27 PM

@Dr Ousby, a doctor in the NHS is doing 300 patients daily
https://www.ausdoc.com.au/news/what-uk-gp-wants-you-know-about-administering-covid19-vaccines
Perhaps , Australia can adopt the NHS approach ?


Dr Annabel Kain   16/01/2021 11:17:19 AM

1. the 30 minutes Dr Price has referred to meant 30 minutes total - consent process, immunisation and observation. There would be ways to streamline the consent process, eg. give patients pre-reading.
2. Note that the "Roadmap" is a powerpoint presentation, not an actual strategy. The gov't doesn't actually have a plan to fund large-scale vaccine clinics, they are actually planning to rely on GPs to do the bulk of this work with GP Resp clinics to take up the slack for patients who don't have a GP. Careful what you wish for. I worry that it will take up a lot of time and energy in general practice and take us away from all the other work we do. If the gov't wants this done quickly , on a "war-footing" then they need to set up large-scale vaccination clinics, not rely on general practice. We should be focusing on the bit that we can do really well - identify and contact our high-risk patients.