COVID Vaccination Clinic (HP448)

Overview/Purpose

This protocol allows users to quickly record COVID vaccinations in eligible patients during a mass vaccination clinic.

Resource Type

Base	Optional	Localised
	✔

Product

This tool is part of the PCIT toolset product

What does it do?

This protocol is available for users to launch manually during a mass vaccination clinic to quickly record the relevant information relating to the COVID vaccine including preconfigured qualifiers such as GMS flag, batch number, expiry date, and indication.

Select patient
Launch protocol via F12
There are a number of aspects this protocol checks for (in the background) prior to you seeing a message:

Whether the vaccine has already been administered
Eligibility criteria
Allergies or contraindications

A popup offering one or more batch numbers will appear
The user will select an option, then choose whether the vaccine is being administered to the left or right arm
The protocol will also add a medication entry for the relevant vaccine (sometimes referred to as a product code)

Individual users will need to add HP448 to their F12 pick lists

Why is it important?

This protocol will help team members quickly and efficiently identify if a patient is eligible for their COVID vaccination. This is important because it saves time within general practice, as well as ensuring accuracy. It will then ensure consistency of coding during a busy vaccination clinic to reduce the risk of vaccinations not being coded correctly for inclusion in payment claims or missing important clinical information such as batch numbers in case of a vaccine recall.

What does it look like?

Once the protocol has been activated from the F12 pick list it will check for eligibility. If the patient is eligible and has not already been vaccinated this season a second protocol appropriate for the patient's age group will launch. It will then prompt for left or right arm and offer a choice of batch numbers.

For the Autumn 2026 campaign Spikevax is offered for adults; Comirnaty 30 for 12-17 year olds; Comirnaty 10 for under 12s.
Bimervax (for patients where mRNA vaccination is unsuitable) is not currently provided as a protocol, so manual adding is recommended.

The protocol will need to be configured at practice level to reflect the vaccine in stock. It is important to keep this up to date as new stock is received to ensure the correct options are available and reduce the risk of incorrect information being added to patient notes.

New vaccination information fields

In September 2026 Enlivio rolled out an EMIS web update which refined the extended information fields (qualifiers) introduced for the Spring 2026 campaign. The qualifier fields are now mandatory to support NHS data collection. This means that all clinical users adding ad-hoc vaccinations must understand what to select for each qualifier.

Configuring batch numbers

The base version of the protocol contains nodes to cover the different COVID vaccines in use this season (Spikevax and Comirnaty). Each vaccine launches a separate protocol which should simplify the process for updating batch numbers.

There should be no reason to modify HP448, unless the practice wants to remove a specific type of vaccine not being used by the practice this season. Caution must be exercised if this is to be attempted as the lines flowing from the Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) box may not update, so the lines must be redrawn.

There are 3 'sub-protocols' which contain the batch data:

PT00465 Spikevax COVID
PT00467 Comirnaty 30 COVID
PT00468 Comirnaty 10 COVID

When editing the protocols, use the Overview in the upper right corner to move around or zoom in/out.

The vaccine specific sub-protocols are laid out in a similar way. The vaccines will check for ages and then prompt for the appropriate vaccine based on the Green Book recommendations for Autumn 2026. Take care to ensure that batch number and expiry information is only added into the relevant protocol.

Each Multiple Choice Question (MCQ) repeats the name of the vaccine to reinforce the original selection. If a user realises they have selected the wrong option, they should press Esc and start again from F12.

To add the batch information

Open the first Multiple Choice Question (double click the box)
Select the top 'ADD here' and press Edit.
Type in the batch number you want to add and press Enter
If you have multiple batch numbers you can choose to edit the other options. Some practices choose to change these to say 'not in use' or delete them. Primary Care IT recommends changing to "Not in use" in case additional batches are delivered later in the campaign.
Press OK to close the MCQ box
Each batch number has a row of Add Coded Data nodes which hang off the 'which arm' MCQ. Spikevax and Comirnaty 30 have 6 coded data nodes per row while Comirnaty 10 has 2 per row.
Double click each node to edit.
Update the Batch number and Expiry date. DO NOT change any of the other qualifiers (eg: GMS, COVID-19, Eligibility etc) * see Care Homes below
It is possible to add just a month and year by typing mm/yy and then tab for it to change (eg 12/23 will change to December-2023)
Press OK to save
Repeat steps 6-8 on all other Coded data nodes on the same row (so that you have the same options linked to both left and right arm)
If more than one batch number is in use at the same time, follow the lines from the second choice in the MCQ to the next row of Add Coded Data nodes
14. Click Save and Close to save the protocol changes
Activate the protocol

Care Homes

Spikevax and Comirnaty 30 have a column of pre-configured Add coded data nodes for administering to patients living in care homes. Changes to the qualifiers can be made, but the process depends on how the Practice intends to deal with care home vaccinations.

By default the protocols are configured to record all over 75s as vaccinated in GP surgery.
Patients under 75 will have a prompt to record whether the indication is immunosuppression or living in care home.

One approach is to modify the Spikevax sub protocol to configure the care home ODS code. Changing the Location from GP Surgery to Care Home will enable the ODS code box below. This is appropriate if the Practice is only responsible for one care home.

For multiple care homes, editing the protocol may be acceptable to speed up the coding process if care home visits are performed on separate days, or a single member of the team is responsible for coding, and familiar with making changes to the protocol having finished all vaccinations for a given care home.

Some staff may be comfortable using the protocol to add most of the information, but before pressing save on the consultation perform the following steps:

- Double click on the code to open the edit box

- Change the Location pick list option to Care Home

- Enter the correct ODS code for the care home (if unsure use this site to find the correct code)

- Press OK

- Save consultation

How to get it

This is an optional Handy Protocol, and as such you can request it via submitting a ticket on our website.

Unlike most other optional Handy Protocols which are shared via resource publishing, HP448 must be installed into your local instance of EMIS. Please ensure that Primary Care IT technical support have the correct RBAC (B1700) with their login to allow access to Resource Publisher. The protocols are installed in order, then linked together. The practice is responsible for editing the protocols to configure batch numbers and expiry dates.

FAQs/Troubleshooting

There are a number of frequently asked questions relating to the COVID protocol. If your question is not answered here please do contact our support desk for assistance.

What if I need to give Bimervax?

Add the vaccination manually - Administration of SARS-CoV-2 vaccine [1156257007] and add all relevant data. Alternatively, use the protocol but remember to double click the codes added into the consultation and modify the qualifiers (COVID-19 vaccine, Batch number, Expiry date).