Aesthetic practitioners – Help administer covid-19 vaccine
Aesthetic doctors and nurses are being asked to lend their skills to supporting the Government’s roll out of the coronavirus vaccine scheme in the UK.
The Telegraph revealed that The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) had “expressed a strong interest in using cosmetic doctors and nurses” to help administer the AstraZeneca vaccine.
It is estimated that over 10,000 healthcare professionals working in aesthetics could be available to get on board with the scheme, in 6,000 locations, especially given that all but those providing treatments deemed as “medical” are currently closed under the UK’s national lockdown.
Many clinics and practitioners have already signed up to scheme, including The Cosmetic Skin Clinic, headed up by Dr Tracy Mountford and owned by parent company The Private Clinic Group, whose 100+ doctors, surgeons and nurses have volunteered to administer the vaccine across its 16 sites.
The Private Clinic Group chief executive Valentina Petrone told The Telegraph: “As a business, we have a team of medical professionals and registered clinics located across the UK in the majority of key locations. We have contacted the government and offered our full support to all of our NHS colleagues and friends at this hugely challenging time.
"The nature of our business also puts us in the fortunate position to already have in-house technologies which allow us to test our staff and patients daily for covid-19.”
Other cosmetic doctors and aesthetic nurses have expressed their interest in signing up for the vaccine distribution effort or have already applied. These include The British College of Aesthetic Medicine board members Dr Bhavjit Kaur, Dr Agnieszka Zatonska, Dr Catherine Fairris and Dr Philip Dobson, who has his first vaccination session this Saturday 16 January; and Dr John Elder, who works as an NHS GP and is vaccinating patients at his own surgery.
BCAM president Dr Uliana Gout has also applied to the vaccination programme. She commented: “Our members have a wealth of medical experience and expertise that is of great value during this unprecedented national emergency and we’re delighted how many members have promoted the vaccination campaign and have applied to be vaccinators.
“The ultimate aim is to achieve mass vaccination as quickly as possible. BCAM is committed to supporting the national effort and assisting the NHS in delivering the programme.”
BCAM is encouraging all its members to sign up. The College emailed its members last week with a link to the NHS website and suggested they could also contact their local GP surgeries to offer assistance, as Primary Care Networks are organising at a local level with the Clinical Commissioning Group.
The knowledge and skill required to dilute and mix botulinum toxin means aesthetic practitioners are well placed to help deliver the vaccine, as evidenced by BCAM member Dr Teri Johnson of Cheshire Lasers Clinic, who said: “Who would have thought that mixing Botox means we have this skill off to a fine art! Fortunately, I am still a GP and was able to do a session today at the local nursing home on my day off. The first of many!”
Apply to join the NHS covid-19 vaccine team here. There are both paid and volunteer roles available for those currently working in the NHS and retired clinicians, as well as for members of the general public in different capacities.
The Moderna vaccine has been found to produce mild side effects in people with facial dermal fillers.
