BRITS may face a longer wait to get the Covid jab after the allergy scare led to some GPs pulling out of plans to offer it.
Regulators say staff must now observe patients for 15 minutes after the vaccine to check they do not suffer an allergic reaction.
Around 280 GP surgeries were due to offer the Pfizer/BioNTech shot from next week but some have pulled out or are reconsidering.
They say the extra checks will require more staff and waiting rooms are not large enough to house more than a handful patients.
This will reduce the number of people they can vaccinate each day and hit them in the pocket.
Dr Steve Rossi, from the North East Derbyshire Primary Care Network, is among those to have pulled out.
He told GP magazine Pulse: “We have had to pull back, primarily but not solely due to the reintroduction of the 15-minute observation period, which makes our site unusable.”
Nine PCNs in Kent, which are due to start vaccinating patients from next Monday, are also having to “rethink their plans”.
Local GP Dr John Allingham said the new stipulations mean that doctors will have to slow down their clinics “dramatically”.
He added: “Quite a few practices and PCNs are probably going to make a loss on this.”
Regulator the MHRA issued new guidance after three people with a history of allergies suffered an allergic reaction to the jab on the first day of the roll-out.
They say staff should now monitor patients for 15 minutes and have resuscitation facilities available.
People with a history of significant allergies to food, medicine or vaccines are advised not to have the vaccine.
