Covid-19: chiropractors eligible for vaccination as front line workers

Chiropractors in England have been confirmed as being a priority for the COVID-19 vaccination programme as healthcare workers in primary care, or as independent providers, including private practice.

NHS England and NHS Improvement issued vaccination of front line health and social care guidance on 7 January 2021, explaining the recommendations of the Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisation (JCVI) in relation to the vaccination of front line health and social care workers. 

‘JCVI recommend that … you should give priority to frontline staff “at high risk of acquiring infection, at high individual risk of developing a serious disease, or at risk of transmitting the infection to multiple vulnerable persons or other staff in a healthcare environment”. This includes but is not limited to: 

• staff working on the vaccination programme 

• staff who have frequent face-to-face contact with patients and who are directly involved in patient care in either secondary or primary care, mental health, urgent and emergency care and community settings 

• those working in independent, voluntary and non-standard healthcare settings such as hospices, and community-based mental health or addiction services’

Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to follow suit shortly.

Chiropractors are regulated health professionals.  Chiropractors working within the independent sector and NHS are eligible for the vaccination as front line health and social care workers if they have ‘frequent face to face contact with patients and … are directly involved in patient care’.

Several professional bodies, including the British Chiropractic Association and the Institute of Osteopathy, have produced a template letter to help registrants in the process of registering their occupation as a healthcare practitioner with their relevant hub/GP service. The IO template letter is available to all, not just members of the Institute of Osteopathy.

To establish whether a person is a chiropractor or not, you can confirm their registration at: https://www.gcc-uk.org/.