Waiting times for observation after Covid-19 jabs could be scrapped or reduced under plans to speed up vaccination efforts.
After people have a vaccine they are asked to wait for a period of observation to ensure they do not have an allergic reaction.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the issue is being “very actively looked at” and added that he will have “more to say” on the subject soon.
The patient information leaflet for the Moderna vaccine says: “During and after each injection of the vaccine, your doctor, pharmacist or nurse will watch over you for at least 15 minutes to monitor for signs of an allergic reaction.”
But some doctors have said the waiting time can “reduce the efficiency” of vaccination centres.
Azeem Majeed, professor of primary care and public health at Imperial College London, wrote on Twitter: “If the government wants to increase the number of Covid-19 vaccinations, then the MHRA needs to urgently review the 15 minute waiting period after vaccination.
“This substantially reduces the efficiency and throughput of vaccine clinics, as well as vaccinations for the housebound.”
The chief medical officers of the UK are understood to be reviewing whether the waiting time can safely be reduced or scrapped.
Conservative former minister, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, said he had spoken to GPs in his constituency who claimed they could “triple our way through” the vaccine rollout if the waiting time was ended.
Mr Javid, speaking in Parliament, told him: “It is being very actively looked at and I will have something more to say on that, I am sure, very, very shortly.”
