COVID-19 vaccines: patients left confused over rollout of third primary doses (BMJ Opinion, 15 October 2021)

Summary

Early in the pandemic, the UK government recognised that certain patients with complex medical conditions, or who were immuno-suppressed through disease or medication, would be most at risk from the complications of COVID-19. These patients were advised to take careful infection control precautions, and were classed as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV). Among the advice given to them was to “shield” and to facilitate this, they were added to a “Shielding Patients List” (SPL) at their GP practices. Despite GP practices having robust disease registers and arranging seasonal flu vaccine recalls annually for mostly similar patients, NHS England decided to create centrally generated lists for CEV, and sent out letters to these patients. 

Unfortunately, NHS Digital wrote to many patients who probably should not have been included as CEV (for example those with a history of glandular fever; or with long resolved and fully treated cancers in full remission), and also failed to include many patients who should have been classed as CEV. Simon Hodes and Azeem Majeed look at the UK government's communication of the COVID-19 vaccination programme.