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Midwives, physical therapists, pharmacists, and nursing and medical students are among those who will be authorized to administer a mass Covid-19 vaccine under new laws that go into effect today.
They follow a consultation on moves to give emergency approval for the use of a vaccine across the UK and an expanded workforce that will be trained to administer the injections to immunize as many of the population as possible quickly.
An expanded workforce will undergo what the government described today as a “robust training program” after changes to the 2012 Human Medicines Regulations went into effect on Friday.
“These legal changes will help us do everything possible to ensure that we are ready to implement a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine as soon as it has passed clinical trials and has undergone rigorous controls by the regulator,” said the health Secretary. Matt Hancock.
A government response after a three-week consultation, which received 191,740 complete responses, committed to a formal review of new regulations that allow the use of unlicensed drugs or vaccines within a year of their first use.
Several amendments to the regulations include one that would extend the current immunity from liability to companies that produce the vaccine, rather than just healthcare workers and manufacturers. This would protect them from legal liability in civil cases “but does not give them full immunity from civil liability,” according to the government.
The government stated that several responses had expressed concerns that the proposals outlined in the consultation paper would make vaccines mandatory or would push for an untested vaccine.
The proposals “do not create powers to make receiving a Covid-19 vaccine mandatory for the UK population,” said the government response, adding that the proposals “do not create powers to implement an unproven vaccine for the UK population. United Kingdom”.
He noted that other respondents had taken the opportunity to express concern about existing regulations that allow the temporary authorization of the supply of a vaccine without a license in response to a public health emergency. Any authorizations using the regulations would be short-term, kept under review and would automatically cease when the product is fully licensed.
While healthcare professionals such as physiotherapists and occupational therapists who have not previously been involved in large-scale vaccination programs are expected to be deployed, Hancock’s department said decisions would be made by decentralized administrations and authorities across the UK.
“For example, a UK nation might want to train nursing and medical students to administer Covid-19 vaccines or flu shots, while another UK nation might not choose that route,” the government response added.
Health professionals, such as occupational therapists, were among those recently asked if they wanted to participate in the distribution of this year’s winter flu vaccine, in what appeared to be preparations to involve those sectors in the launch of a Covid-19 vaccine.
Discussions between health authorities and professional medical associations continue on who will administer the Covid-19 vaccine, and the creation of a new national protocol will establish who can operate with it and the training requirements.
The changes in the regulations will reinforce the existing powers that empower the Medicines and Health Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), if a vaccine is developed before 2021.
