A new Covid-19 variant is spreading across the UK, but immunity in a vast proportion of the working population is waning. Dr Charles Levinson says is time for private Covid jabs to be made available.
It is estimated that Covid-19 vaccinations saved almost 20 million lives worldwide in the first year of the vaccination programme – and with subsequent campaigns and boosters, it’s likely that number is now far higher.
Despite the misinformation and mistruths you might hear, a simple fact remains: vaccination saves lives, whether from Covid, influenza or a vast range of other afflictions.
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A large part of my medical career has been dedicated to improving responses to flu outbreaks, and the most effective weapon in our armoury has always been vaccination.
The company I work for, Doctorcall, is the longest-standing private provider of flu vaccination campaigns, and we deliver protection to more individuals than any organisation outside of the NHS.
Flu vaccinations benefit the individual, the company and wider society. It’s a popular staff benefit that can be used to retain and attract talent. An estimated 2.4 million working adults in the UK could fall ill with influenza every year, corresponding to 4.8 million workdays lost.
But, unlike flu vaccinations, Covid-19 vaccinations and boosters are not yet available privately. Understandably at the height of the pandemic, vaccine procurement and distribution were centralised because supplies were tight. Covid-19 vaccines were, and still are, only available through the NHS.
Now, supplies of Covid-19 vaccinations are plentiful. There is a role for the private sector to deliver Covid vaccinations to those that want them, while the NHS continues to administer them to those who are more vulnerable.
Having established private flu jab routes, my question to the government is this – why the delay with private Covid-19 vaccinations?
During the original rollout, I met the then vaccine minister Nadhim Zahawi and his team to discuss what the government could learn from Doctorcall’s flu vaccine campaigns. It was a productive discussion, with the minister interested in how our network can reach so many. It was clear this capacity and process was valued by the Department of Health and Social Care.
The same protocols to ensure safety standards are met apply in both the private sector and the NHS, so there is no apparent cause for this delay. The industry has the expertise and the experience to deliver. I estimate that over one million vaccines could be administered by the private sector in addition to NHS numbers – that is a significant proportion of overall vaccination numbers and would lead higher level of immunity within the population that could save lives, reduce the burden on the NHS and benefit the economy.
I estimate that over one million vaccines could be administered by the private sector in addition to NHS numbers.”
Recent reports have suggested that the UK Health Security Agency is set to give the private sector the green light to sell Covid vaccine boosters to the public. This should happen immediately in advance of what is expected to be a challenging winter, especially with the new variant BA.2.86 spreading quickly across the UK.
This would be viewed by employers as a worthwhile investment in their staff, just as with flu vaccinations. Eligibility for Covid-19 boosters via the NHS is limited to the over-65s, the vulnerable and their close contacts, so millions will be left without sufficient protection. As with flu, Covid can spread rapidly within a workforce and one sick employee can rapidly become a company-wide crisis.
We are currently experiencing huge demand for our flu vaccination services, along with other corporate health services such as on-site GPs, demonstrating the value employers are putting on employee wellbeing. The government supports this in principle with proposals for tax relief to companies for these services.
Although the process is very similar to a flu vaccination programme, there is a requirement to sort out issues around storage, pricing, licensing and supply. These can only be addressed after the government presses the start button, so I urge ministers to engage with the sector now to allow us to prepare for an organised campaign.
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