Vaccine overview
- The vaccine will first be made available to South Australians in two phases (1a and 1b) starting from mid-February 2021
- In summary;
- 1a will be administered by State Health from larger hubs (expected to be hospitals) and will likely be the Pfizer vaccine (this phase will be rolled out first and will target residential aged care facilities, disability homes, Aboriginal community members and other high risk individuals – including frontline health workers)
- General practice will lead the phase 1b of the vaccinations, expected to be administered by early March 2021
- 1b is expected to be the Astra Zeneca vaccine (which is normal cold chain storage)
General practice and EOI information
- General practice EOIs will be available in the coming days and will include all information, guidance and eligibility criteria. This will be available to access via Adelaide PHN's website - we will ensure to keep you updated
- General vaccination criteria for eligibility will apply – accreditation, previous experience with vaccinations, cold chain storage etc.
- MBS payments will be made to general practice for administration of the vaccine (sorry we don’t know what that payment will be as yet!)
- There will be a PIP for both doses being provided by the same practice
- Practices lodging an EOI will be expected to see patients from outside their usual patient cohort
- Volume and throughput is key to achieving this
- There will be a requirement to upload the vaccination information to the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)
- Fee for service payment has been determined as ideal for a mass vaccination undertaking such as this
- We understand that the Commonwealth will be providing a platform for bookings (and potentially other information)
- It is unlikely that flu vaccination can be given on the same day/time – but clarification is being sort from the TGA – if TGA approved – it is a likely requirement that it would then need to be administered in a different part of the general practice and billed separately
- We are still awaiting TGA approval for the actual vaccines and the guidance regarding flu vaccinations
- GP Respiratory Clinics and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations are NOT required to lodge an EOI
- GP Respiratory Clinics will be continuing their Respiratory Clinic function and providing vaccinations (on different days/times/settings – to ensure robust infection control)
- We understand that there is a requirement to have the patient in your waiting room for 30 minutes post vaccination (they cannot wait in a car or outside of the practice) so waiting room space with appropriate social distancing will be a factor
- Vaccinations aren't mandatory but are free and available to all persons living in Australia
- Patients without a Medicare Card will receive their vaccination from a GP Respiratory Clinic
For more information, please refer to the The Commonwealth Government Health Provider Stakeholder Information Kit. Note - this is NOT the EOI for general practice but contains useful information about the COVID-19 vaccination roll out and requirements.
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