When will private Covid-19 vaccinations become available?

January 2021 | Reading time: 2 minutes

For several months, PCR customers have been enquiring about private Covid-19 vaccinations. While we are considering offering a vaccination in the future, it is not currently available privately.

There are also several other considerations. It is essential that the UK Government has access to as many doses as they can logistically handle. At the time of writing the Oxford / AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines have both been approved in the UK and the government has purchased a large initial quantity of the former.

Both Oxford and Pfizer have announced plans to significantly increase the rate of production over the coming months. Over the same period, it is likely that more vaccines will be approved internationally but also that the demand will increase exponentially.

Once governmental supply chains have been satisfied it is likely that these two vaccines, and possibly others (such as Moderna) will be sold to private medical groups.

Will private vaccinations not deprive more vulnerable patients?

No. While vaccine stock is available, the government will have priority access.

When the coronavirus vaccine becomes privately available it will alleviate logistical pressure on NHS which will still be focusing on immunising the most vulnerable patients.

Who will be vaccinated first?

• All those aged 80 and over and health and social care workers, though they may move up the list
• Anyone 75 years of age and over
• People aged 70 and over
• All those aged 65 and over
• High-risk adults under 65 years of age
• Moderate-risk adults under 65 years of age
• All those aged 60 and over
• All those 55 and over
• All those aged 50 and over
• The rest of the population, with priority yet to be determined

Why get vaccinated privately?

There are several reasons that people may want to get vaccinated privately. The most common reason is when a patient is low down or not on the above list. Additionally, people may not wish to wait for the extended period between the first and the second dose?

We will update this article with details of private vaccine availability when they become available.