Govt unveils new MBS item for GPs as vaccine rollout hits more turbulence
The bigger rebate for vaccination will support GPs counselling concern and confused patients aged 50 and over
The Federal Government has announced a new MBS item for longer GP consults with patients concerned about the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines.
The equivalent of a level B consult, the item must be bulk-billed and will be limited to patients aged 50 and over.
Announced today, the move is a response to the latest ATAGI advice that those under 60 should not be offered AstraZeneca’s vaccine, given the rate and severity of thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) in the cohort.
The problem is that there are 815,000 patients in Australia aged 50-59 who have received the first dose of viral vector vaccine, patients who ATAGI says still need to be fully vaccinated with the second dose in the 12-week time frame.
