Ask Me Anything live with a GP: Dr Simon Hodes to answer your Covid booster jab questions

Ask a GP on the covid frontline about the ramped up booster jab programme and what it means for you

(PA)

More than 20,000 people booked a coronavirus booster vaccine every hour yesterday as the country ramps up efforts to dampen the impact of the Covid omicron variant.

Following his weekend TV address urging Britons to seek a third jab, Boris Johnson tweeted that more than 500,000 people made an appointment on Monday.

It came as health officials estimated new omicron infections had reached 200,000 per day at the start of this week, and Britain recorded its first death involving the new strain.

Meanwhile the NHS has been put on a crisis footing and returned to its highest level of emergency preparedness.

There are fears that as the NHS’s focus moves to administering booster jabs to all adults by the end of the year there will be negative impacts on those with other health needs.

Nursing leaders have expressed concern about the “scale and pace” of the vaccine programme expansion – which will aim to jab almost a million people every day – while a charity said the Government must ensure NHS cancer services are “prioritised and protected”.

The target for giving every adult a booster jab was brought forward by a month over fears of a “tidal wave of Omicron” that could cause “very many deaths”.

But what is the reality for those on the frontline such as GPs and how might this vaccine focus impact your access to healthcare?

To answer your questions surrounding the booster jab programme and other areas around general practice we have GP Dr Simon Hodes on hand for an ask me anything event being held in the comments section of this page.

Dr Hodes, is a GP in Watford in a large practice (31,000 patients) which has recently been awarded local Practice of the Year. He has been seeing patients face to face throughout the pandemic, and his practice was a first wave vaccine site.

Simon also helped to set up a nationwide group of more than 800 GP volunteers in a bid to support the NHS 111 service and ambulance service during Covid, and has helped produce various flowcharts with local colleagues which have been widely shared. You can find out more about his work on Twitter @DrSimonHodes.

If you have a question about the current state of this government, submit it now, or when I join you live at 11am on Wednesday 15 December for an “Ask Me Anything” event.

To get involved all you have to do is register to submit your question in the comments below.

If you’re not already a member, click “sign up” in the comments box to leave your question. Don’t worry if you can’t see your question – they may be hidden until Dr Hodes joins the conversation to answer them. Then join us live on this page at 11am as he tackles as many questions as he can within an hour.

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