UK Prime minister Boris Johnson has unveiled the country’s new booster vaccine drive as he pledged to deliver booster shots to everyone over 18 by the end of January to ‘protect’ the nation against the new supermutant Covid variant, Omicron.
Johnson also announced he is drafting in the Army again to help deliver the programme and will offer GPs an extra £15 for every covid jab in what he called another ‘great British vaccination effort’.
GPs will also get a bonus of £5 per shot if they do them on Sundays and a £30 premium for shots delivered to the most vulnerable who are unable to leave their homes.
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The Telegraph reports:Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Amanda Pritchard, chief executive of NHS England, said GPs and pharmacies would be offered £15 for every shot administered from Mondays to Saturday until the end of January, compared to just £12.58 previously.
A £5 bonus would be offered for jabs given on a Sunday and a £30 premium for shots delivered to the housebound, Ms Pritchard said.
“Our hard-working GPs, community pharmacists and primary care colleagues have delivered the lion’s share of the vaccinations so far,” she added. “We’re looking at how we can help them to do even more by cutting other burdens on them to free up clinicians’ time.”
The increased fees come as the Government unveils targets to offer all adults a booster shot by the end of January.
“We are going to throw everything at it, to ensure that everyone eligible for that booster will be vaccinated within two months,” the Prime Minister said. “It’s time for another Great British vaccination effort.”
He added that temporary vaccination centres would be “popping up like Christmas trees” while the military, pharmacies, hospitals and GP practices would all be deployed in an attempt to hit the vaccination rate seen earlier this year.
