Urgent update on Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and the involvement of GPs

Publication date: 04 December 2020

The College has received information from NHS England this evening. General practice will have a much earlier role in delivery of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine than originally anticipated. This will begin potentially as early as next week.

A letter from NHSE Primary Care Director Nikki Kanani (PDF file, 91.3 KB) has been sent to all practices in England. There will be a further update on Monday, but GPs will be involved initially through PCN groupings. This will be the beginning of a general mobilisation of practices.

We'll keep you updated with our full response as things develop. We're looking to produce resources to support GPs and their teams. We’ll also be monitoring the situation for our members in Scotland, Wales and NI.

The College is truly grateful for everything GPs and their teams are doing to help the COVID effort. Their contribution throughout the pandemic has been magnificent.

About the writer

Professor Martin Marshall, Chair of RCGP Council

Professor Martin Marshall is Chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners and a GP in Newham, East London. He is also Professor of Healthcare Improvement at UCL in the Department of Primary Care and Population Health. Previously he was Programme Director for Population Health and Primary Care at UCLPartners (2014-2019). He was Director of Research & Development at the Health Foundation (2007-2012) and Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England. He was also Director General in the Department of Health (2006-2007), Professor of General Practice at the University of Manchester (2000-2006), and a Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy.

He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and of the Faculty of Public Health Medicine. He was a non-executive director of the Care Quality Commission until 2012. He has advised governments in Singapore, Egypt, Canada and New Zealand. He has over 230 publications in the field of quality improvement and health service redesign. His primary academic interest is in maximising the impact of research on practice. In 2005 he was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for Services to Health Care.

A co-founder and driving force of the Rethinking Medicine movement, Martin has a passionate commitment to the values of the NHS, patient care and ensuring the GP voice is central in a time of great change. When he’s not working, he likes being outside, preferably on a mountain or a coastal path with his wife Sue and their puppy.