The big news this week was the Australian Department of Health’s call for expressions of interest from general practices to take part in phase 1b of the Covid vaccination program, which is due to begin in March. As the EOI has been digested over the week, some serious questions are being asked about the plan, which doesn’t appear to be fully fleshed out.

Putting aside whether it will be financially viable for any but the largest general practices that can guarantee a production line process to take part, questions remain about how to schedule patients for the different phases of the roll-out, the ability to adequately staff the clinics, and the site requirements that the department is specifying. We are now seeing pushback from GPs about the MBS funding model and concerns over patients that won’t be able to get their vaccine from their regular practice.