Health board vaccination leads have raised concerns that a lack of reliable local venues for mass vaccination could inhibit future routine programmes.

An evaluation of Scotland’s covid-19 vaccination programme carried out by Public Health Scotland has highlighted growing concerns in the availability of vaccination sites as a result of changes in lockdown and the ending role of GPs in vaccination delivery.

One health board vaccination lead told the Public Health Scotland Vaccine Evaluation Team that the key challenge this winter will be to find alternative centres, as a number of venues previously used for vaccination will revert back to their normal functions.

Another vaccination lead suggested goodwill afforded during the pandemic response would be unlikely to be extended for future vaccination programmes, leaving many areas without large venues:

“So from my perspective we’ve had the goodwill of everyone to do things quickly, effectively and getting everyone on-side, but that’ll wear thin once other things are there. So I think the goodwill will run dry eventually.”

The Vaccine Evaluation Team also heard concerns about the loss of local general-practice based vaccinations – especially on the impact on future uptake among older people, those living in areas of high socioeconomic deprivation and neurodivergent groups.

While mass vaccination centres were used to deliver more than two-thirds of covid-19 vaccinations in Scotland up to the end of June this year, almost half of people over 80 living independently (42.7%) were vaccinated at their local GP practice.

In Highland, general practice-based vaccinations accounted for 63.6% of all vaccine doses administered in this board area.

The Vaccine Transformation Programme saw the role of GPs in vaccine delivery come to an end, except in exceptional circumstances, from April 2022, meaning the use of GP-based delivery models is likely to be minimal in the future.

Third sector organisations representing people over 80 told the Vaccine Evaluation Team that larger vaccination clinics are not always accessible for this group and alternative local venues will be ‘required urgently’ to avoid impacting previously high vaccine uptake.

One potential solution proposed at meeting to discuss equitable vaccination access was to carry out vaccinations within GP surgeries, but have the vaccinations administered by health board staff.

Lack of accessibility of larger vaccination centres was also found to impact the uptake rates of people who are more deprived and those from neurodivergent groups.

Cost of travel to larger centres and the difficulty of attending new healthcare environments with new providers were found to be key barriers in uptake.

The evaluation team has called for ‘urgent work’ to identify and secure sustainable local venues to replace general practices for current and future routine vaccination programmes to avoid impacting previously high vaccine uptake.

It says that ‘a range of delivery models is required for a successful vaccination programme to support maximal and equitable uptake’.

 

Read more: Details revealed of national vaccines service; National vaccine system a “challenge” for rural areas; GPs question transfer of vaccinations to health boards

 

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