The national primary care service specification for Covid-19 vaccination has been welcomed by Community Pharmacy Wales.

Contractors in primary care are being treated equally in terms of remuneration for administration under the Primary Care Covid-19 Immunisation Service (PCCIS), with a set payment of £12.58 per vaccine (£25.16 per patient where both doses are administered).

In order to incentivise working at higher volumes, there is also an administration fee of £400 per 1,000 vaccinations completed. 

Judy Thomas, director of contractor services at Community Pharmacy Wales said: “This is a national contracting mechanism that Health Boards can now use in order to engage providers to deliver Covid-19 vaccination from within primary care. Community Pharmacy Wales is positive about the vaccination programme and we believe community pharmacists will become involved in significant numbers to play our full part in meeting the major public health challenge of 2021.”

In Wales the vaccination programme is led by health boards, with a significant proportion of activity likely to be undertaken via mass vaccination centres (MVCs), but the announcement of the PCCIS paves the way for primary care involvement to increase capacity.