GP teams working ‘incredibly hard’ to vaccinate Group 6 patients, says RCGP

The Royal College of GPs has responded to claims that some patients in Group 6 of the JCVI’s priority list are being ‘denied’ vaccines

Professor Martin Marshall, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: “GPs and our teams have been pulling out all the stops to vaccinate patients, with more than 20m people now having now received their first dose, and 75% of those in England being delivered in primary care. As long as there is vaccine supply, general practice will continue to play a key role in the vaccination programme until the whole population is protected from COVID-19.

“The focus for GPs and our teams is currently to offer vaccinations to patients from Group 6 on the JCVI’s priority list – this is a large group of approximately seven million patients, and it is likely some patients in this group will not have yet been invited for their first jab. In line with guidance from NHS England and the JCVI, prioritisation within this group will consider a number of factors, including age and ethnicity as well as some degree of clinical judgement.

“As GPs and our teams continue to work incredibly hard to protect patients from COVID-19, we’d urge patients to wait until they receive an invitation for vaccination before contacting their practice, and once they are invited, we’d would encourage every patient to come forward for their vaccination.”