Coronavirus: 160 GPs to administer AZ vaccines

A hundred and sixty personal doctors have expressed an interest in administering the AstraZeneca vaccine to their patients, the health ministry announced on Wednesday.

Last week, in a bid to speed up the national vaccination process and reduce portal crashes, the ministry asked personal doctors to express their interest in giving patients over the age of 30 the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The move drew mixed reactions from doctors, with some welcoming the move and others questioning its safety.

Wednesday marked the deadline for interested doctors to collect expressions of interest from patients, so that the necessary quantity of vaccines can be requested from the ministry.

Out of a total of 160 interested doctors, 115 notified the ministry on Wednesday and are set to receive 10,000 vaccine doses in total.

In addition, 45 Okypy personal doctors have asked for 1,200 doses, the ministry said.

Vaccinations by personal doctors will be performed in parallel with the operation of vaccination centres, with those wanting any other vaccine having to follow the standard procedure through the portal and adhere to age groups.