Government to scrap the 15-minute vaccine waiting time
A new report from Chief Medical Officers this afternoon has recommended the removal of the 15-minute wait for mRNA vaccinations for COVID-19, balancing the growing need for boosters and the low rates of allergic reactions.
The CMOs recognise that this will lead to a marginal increase in risk for a very small number of people, but substantially fewer than would be harmed by a slower vaccine rollout in the current public health emergency leading to some citizens not getting boosted or vaccinated prior to exposure to Omicron.
The medical analysis includes a consideration that any prior vaccination and particularly boosting is likely to lessen the likelihood of severe disease arising from Omicron variant infection.
They therefore state that the 15-minute wait should be suspended for first, second and homologous or heterologous boost vaccinations with mRNA vaccine given the current situation, with this operationalised in line with the needs in each of the 4 nations.
Those with a history of allergic reactions should be managed in line with Green Book advice and everyone who is vaccinated should be given verbal and written advice on allergic reactions including what actions to take if they become unwell.
Initial analysis from NHS England from England, which is likely to be similar to other nations, implies that under the conditions of a system working at full capacity (as is needed now) the 15-minute wait reduces throughput by 23 per cent. This leads to over 500,000 people not getting a vaccine in the initial period who would otherwise have done so.
The recommendation said: “Even allowing for the relatively crude initial calculations here, the absolute number of people put at risk because they cannot get vaccinated due to the 15-minute wait (in the high tens of thousands or higher) is much greater than the more precisely calculated number who get anaphylaxis. Since the mortality rate for COVID-19 is non-trivial (although not yet calculated for Omicron) the probability of harm through delay is, in the view of the CMOs substantially in excess of the probability of benefit from maintaining 15-minute waits under the current situation.”
The long-term decisions on the 15-minute wait, when the current need for extreme speed of vaccination and boosting is over, will rest with the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM), the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
If Ministers agree then this should be a temporary measure on the grounds of public health need to protect as many citizens as possible over a short period of time. Specific details of how the 15-minute suspension is operationally implemented should be determined by each nation.