Novavax COVID jab delivered by indie pharmacy in UK first
The new private COVID-19 vaccine, manufactured by Novavax and delivered for the first time in the UK by an independent pharmacy, is almost half the price of the Pfizer jab offered by Boots.
The first UK patient received a private Novavax COVID jab at Lifestyle Pharmacy in Bath yesterday, C+D can reveal.
The pharmacy is charging £55 for the new “protein-based” COVID vaccination, pharmacy service provider Pharmadoctor told C+D yesterday (April 22).
The company explained that the new vaccine is more affordable for patients than the Pfizer jab – which Lifestyle Pharmacy prices at £85 – because the Pfizer vaccine costs pharmacies “significantly more”.
Last month, C+D reported that Boots had become the first UK multiple to offer private Pfizer COVID jabs for £98.95, meaning that community pharmacies partnered with Pharmadoctor can now offer COVID jabs for almost half the price.
Patients must be “age 12 years and above” and “undergo a face-to-face clinical consultation” with a pharmacist using Pharmadoctor’s COVID vaccination eTool to receive the jab, the company said.
Pharmacists who have already paid for the companies’ private COVID vaccination service package will be able to offer the Novavax vaccine at no additional cost, it added.
“If pharmacists are new to the service, it will cost them £499 per year – this includes any update to vaccines as the COVID strains change and will include the Moderna vaccine when it becomes available,” Pharmadoctor said.
Currently, only people who are aged 75 or over, aged 6 months to 74 years with a “weakened immune system” or living in a care home for older adults qualify for a free COVID-19 vaccination on the NHS.
Patients “waiting patiently” for Novavax
Superintendent pharmacist and owner of Lifestyle Pharmacy Nick Daines said he was “delighted” to offer the first UK patient a Novavax COVID jab.
“Many of our patients have told us that they have been waiting patiently to receive their COVID jab until the Novavax vaccine became available this week”, he added.
Pharmadoctor said that "a number of patients” have told it that they “do not believe they are eligible to receive the mRNA vaccine for clinical reasons”, while others said they were “waiting for the Novavax vaccine because it should cost less than the Pfizer vaccine”.
A Pharmadoctor poll conducted on X - formerly Twitter – over the weekend found that of 1,680 respondents, “84% said they would prefer the Novavax vaccine, 6% said they’d prefer the Pfizer mRNA vaccine [and] 10% said they didn’t have a preference”, it said.
Pharmadoctor’s chief executive Graham Thoms said that “since launching the UK’s first private COVID vaccination service some weeks back, thousands of patients” have received jabs through Pharmadoctor’s “nationwide network of partner pharmacies”.
“Pharmadoctor is excited to be the first provider in the UK to offer the choice of both the Pfizer and Novavax vaccines to protect an even greater number of patients against COVID,” he added.
