Pharmacies accuse NHS of making a ‘tactical mistake’ for refusing to help with Covid booster vaccines

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Asked about this in the House of Commons, Vaccines Minister Maggie Thrope said: “As of the end of September 2021, 4,733 contractors had submitted 5,376 expressions of interest in participating in the booster vaccination programme, with 1,454 being accepted.”

The NHS will again consider offers of assistance

She said the expressions of interest that were not accepted will now be reconsidered.

Since September, the NHS has been providing boosters to those over 50, health workers and those with underlying conditions, six months after the second strike.

But the threat from Omicron has led to orders to deliver punches to all adults by the end of this year, with the gap narrowing to at least three months.

Alistair Buxton, director of NHS services at the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee, said refusing several thousand pharmacies earlier in the start-up was a “tactical mistake”, and urged ministers to quickly reconsider the matter.

“There is an urgent need to raise the level of the vaccination program, and we have pharmacies ready to help, but we are unable to do so because they have not been assigned to act as vaccination sites,” he said.

“Pharmacies that want to help can be ready to deploy very quickly, if the NHS changes its mind, although with short notice and increased demand for frequent prescriptions at Christmas, this will be a much greater challenge for them.”

An NHS spokesperson said: “There are nearly 1,500 pharmacies offering the boosters compared to less than 1,000 in October, and Monday saw a record number of vaccinations in pharmacies with more than 185,000 people being protected in local pharmacies.”

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