Guidance

Coronavirus (COVID-19) VMD News and Guidance

News and guidance on veterinary medicines issues affected by coronavirus (COVID-19).

From:
Veterinary Medicines Directorate
Published
30 April 2020
Last updated
23 December 2021 — See all updates

If Marketing Authorisation Holders become aware of or foresee any issues with the supply of one of their products that will impact availability to UK end users, please inform us as soon as possible by completing the report a supply problem form and sending it to [email protected].

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How the VMD is operating due to coronavirus (COVID-19)

We remain open for business in line with government advice and have changed our working practices so that our staff are working from home. If you do need to contact us, emailing is the best way to ensure you get a full response which can be used for future reference. We usually respond to emails within a few days, depending on the complexity of the question. Our general email address is [email protected] which is monitored throughout the day.

If you are planning to send us anything by post you will need to notify us at [email protected] first.

VMD Export Certificates being issued electronically

Following the success of our e-issuing service for export certificates during the pandemic, we will permanently continue to only issue these electronically.

This is in agreement with government’s wider commitment to be digital by default, providing services digitally.

Certificate requests should continue to be made online.

For any queries regarding this change, email: [email protected].

Availability of veterinary medicines

We are monitoring the availability of authorised veterinary medicines in the UK during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The VMD and the pharmaceutical industry have well-established procedures to deal with supply issues that arise. For further information read the full news story Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak - availability of veterinary medicines.

Manufacturers and suppliers of veterinary medicines have measures in place to enable the continued production and supply of medicines.

We encourage veterinary surgeons and retailers to continue with normal purchasing patterns to maintain proportionate stocks of veterinary medicines to support the availability of medicines.

Advice for the veterinary pharmaceutical industry and the veterinary profession from their representative organisations is at:

Veterinary practice and prescriptions

On 20 December we reinstated the temporary relaxation of the enforcement of specific provisions of the Veterinary Medicines Regulations 2013 (VMR) covering certain aspects of the prescribing and supply of veterinary medicines.

In view of the ongoing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, we have issued statements allowing, in exceptional circumstances, for facilitations concerning the temporary change of veterinary practice and SQP retailer premises and the arrangements for SQPs for remote prescribing and authorisation of supply to be re-applied after 20 December where:

  • the veterinary practice premises (VPP)/SQP retailer is located in an area where the Government has deployed local lockdown measures requiring the premises to close; and/or
  • a veterinary surgeon/SQP needs to self-isolate, for example because they have tested positive for the virus or due to contact tracing, or they have underlying health conditions requiring them to self-isolate.

The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) have issued guidance for veterinary professionals on how to continue to undertake veterinary work.

Inspections

In August 2021 we reinstated on-site inspections of veterinary medicines manufacturers, wholesale dealers, veterinary practice premises, SQP retailers, feed businesses and marketing authorisation holders (including pharmacovigilance systems).

All VMD inspections are continuing at this time. Inspections of veterinary medicines manufacturers will be conducted on-site and arranged in the usual way.

Inspections of pharmacovigilance systems of Marketing Authorisation holders (MAHs), veterinary medicine wholesalers, veterinary practice premises, feed business operators and SQP retailers may take place on-site or remotely. The appropriate approach will be discussed with the relevant stakeholders when the inspection is arranged.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected].

Report a supply problem with a veterinary medicine

Updates to this page

Published 30 April 2020
Last updated 23 December 2021 + show all updates

  1. Update to the sections; 'Veterinary practice and prescriptions' and 'Inspections'

  2. Information updated to Veterinary practice and prescriptions: the temporary change of veterinary practice and SQP retailer premises and the arrangements for SQPs for remote prescribing and authorisation of supply

  3. Amendment to Inspections section regarding re-start of inspections on 24 August

  4. Revision of Vet Practice and Prescriptions section; added link to information (effective from 1 September 2020) on temporary VMD enforcement policy under specific circumstances in response to COVID‐19

  5. Facilitations date changed to 31 August

  6. Date of temporary facilitations changed to 31 July

  7. The temporary facilitations mentioned will last until 30 June when they will be reviewed.

  8. First published.

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