Practice nurses say they should be free to give COVID-19 vaccines under Medicare without the presence of GP, declaring direct supervision is no longer necessary for the rollout.

The requirement is tied to the coronavirus vaccine items for general practice, which demand that a doctor must be “physically present” to claim a rebate even though the actual consult and administration of the vaccine can be done by a nurse.

With nine million COVID-19 vaccines having been delivered by general practices over the last six months, the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association says the rule is pointless.

“Early on, doctors thought, ‘There is something special about this vaccine,’ and they felt they should be there to eyeball everyone,” its president Karen Booth said.