COVID 1b Eligibility
COVID-19 vaccines will start being delivered to YourGP sometime between March 22 – 26. We will email you on the day of arrival.
One thousand vaccine doses have been allocated for weekly delivery between our practices at Crace, Lyneham and Denman.
As vaccine allocations are received, new bookings for people eligible as part of group 1B will open online. Notifications will be made via email and Facebook. Your second dose of the vaccine at 12 weeks will automatically be allocated to the practice. Your second vaccine appointment can be booked one to two weeks in advance of when it is due.
Group 1B eligibility further defined.
Group 1B includes everyone aged 70 years and over, healthcare workers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders aged 55 years and over, critical and high-risk workers (eg defence, police, fire and emergency services), Australian Government staff being deployed overseas and adults with specific chronic disease and disabilities.
Chronic disease eligibility for group 1B has been defined by the government. This may be further clarified in future. Chronic disease eligibility is relevant for those aged 18 to 69 years. Those 70 years and over are automatically eligible for group 1B. The vaccine is not currently licenced for use in people under the age of 18 years (with or without chronic disease).
Chronic disease eligibility includes:
Conditions that cause immunocompromise.
Organ transplant recipients who are on immune suppressive therapy.
Bone marrow transplant recipients or those on chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy.
Haematological disease or cancer including leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma.
Cancer diagnosed or active in the last 12 months, or for which you are receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Does not include cancer in remission for greater than one year and not on treatment.
Immunosuppressive therapy for graft vs host disease or inflammatory conditions.
Chronic inflammatory conditions and treatments, including systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and similar conditions which are treated with disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) or immune-suppressant therapy. Does not include osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia or myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome.
Immunodeficiency, including HIV/AIDS.
Underlying conditions that increase the risk of severe COVID-19 infection.
High blood pressure that is difficult to control. This is defined by requiring two or more BP medications, even if blood pressure is well controlled on recent readings. Please note some BP medications have two ingredients in one tablet, which would give eligibility for 1B.
Renal (kidney) failure with eGFR less than 45. Does not include mild-moderate chronic kidney disease. If you believe you have chronic kidney disease but do not know your eGFR, please ask your GP. If you have had blood tests ordered at YourGP then you can book a COVID vaccine questions telehealth appt to check your latest eGFR (see below).
Chronic lung disease including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (also known as emphysema), cystic fibrosis and interstitial lung disease. Does not include mild or moderate asthma.
Neurological conditions, including stroke, dementia, multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Parkinson’s disease and cerebral palsy. Does not include migraine or cluster headache.
Diabetes – type I and type II.
Obesity with BMI over 40.
Chronic liver disease.
Heart disease including ischaemic heart disease (eg, angina, previous heart attack, coronary artery bypass surgery or coronary artery stents), valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathy, heart failure and pulmonary hypertension.
This list is not exhaustive. If you are unsure if you are eligible for 1B, or have questions about the vaccine, you can make a telehealth appointment to discuss. These appointments will be brief 5-minute appointments and will be billed to Medicare. Telehealth is only available if you have visited the practice in person in the last 12 months. There are “COVID Vaccine Questions Only” appointment types in HotDoc. Please book here: Crace, Lyneham, Denman
If you are not eligible for telehealth, book a standard appointment with your usual GP to discuss.
Kind regards,
Drs John and Mel Deery, on behalf of everyone at YourGP