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General practitioner Paul Rademaker from Grijpskerk does not care about regional agreements with the GGD and invites everyone in his practice for a booster vaccination. He wants to get five hundred shots on Friday and the same number again a week later.
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Ahead of guidelines
Rademaker, former chairman of the Groningen GP circle and chairman of the Groninger Huisartsen Coöperatie (GHC), is thus ahead of national guidelines. At present, general practitioners are only allowed to inject non-mobile and vulnerable patients from their practice, which vaccines are supplied by the GGD.
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‘Absolutely’ no appointment made
At the request of the Ministry of Health, it has been negotiable since Monday evening that general practitioners prick more patients, but agreements must be made with the GGD for this. A spokesperson for the GGD Groningen says that there are agreements with Rademaker about vaccinating vulnerable people, ‘but absolutely not about vaccinating people over 18. That goes against the national guideline.’
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‘Definite agreements’
But Rademaker sees that differently. According to him, agreements have indeed been made with the GGD. ‘Why else would they provide those vaccines? We are on speaking terms.’
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In recent weeks, Rademaker has already put a thousand booster shots. At first, the GP only wrote to people with vulnerable health by appointment. In between, he did give younger members of his practice a booster. ‘But in general it was about vulnerable people.’
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‘Every shot shortens the lockdown’
But now Rademakers invites all over 18s in his practice. Next Friday he wants to prick five hundred boosters and the same number a week later. According to the doctor, it is impossible to write to everyone from his practice, so he placed the call on Tuesday. ‘I saw the long queues in front of the GGD’s screening street in Groningen. From this I conclude that every shot I inject reduces the pressure on that organization in any case.’
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He apparently takes it for granted that it is against the agreements. ‘Then some age groups may come a week early, but that’s no different. I’m not terribly busy right now. Every booster probably brings us closer to a shorter lockdown,” says Rademaker.
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GGD and the circle of general practitioners consult
The GPs’ association Groningen says in a response that it does not check whether GPs adhere to the regional agreements. ‘Anyone who gives more patients a booster shot than the vulnerable group must make agreements about this with the GGD’, says board member Harry Bulk. ‘We do not test how GPs give shape to existing agreements.’
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The GGD Groningen and the GP circle of Groningen are currently discussing how to speed up the booster campaign. According to a GGD spokesperson, the invitation policy, registration and delivery of the vaccines are being discussed.
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GGD and general practitioners are already working together
In Groningen, the GGD and the general practitioners are already working together to provide vulnerable patients with a booster shot more quickly. Since last month, the GGD has been delivering hundreds of prepared vaccines to general practitioners every day, which they then give to their patients during a round. As a result, thousands of vulnerable and non-mobile patients in Groningen receive their injections weeks earlier than originally planned.
The GGD itself only got around to injecting this difficult-to-reach group from January. For this, mobile prick teams must be set up that visit patients at home. General practitioners came to the rescue because the group is difficult to reach for the GGD, but not for general practitioners because they regularly visit the group at home.
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