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There is to be a large expansion of the number of people being asked to shield in England. An extra 1.7 million people are expected to be added to the 2.3 million already on the list. Half of the group have not yet been vaccinated so will now be prioritised urgently by their local GPs. It comes after a new model was developed that takes into account extra factors rather than just health. This calculation includes things such as ethnicity, deprivation (by postcode) and weight to work out a person's risk of becoming seriously ill if they were to catch Covid. It also looks at age, underlying health issues and prescribed medications. Prof Andrew Hayward, a member of the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), which has been involved in the modelling, said it considered a "combination of factors" such as age, ethnicity and chronic illness and put them together to reach a score. He told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that this score could "more or less order people in the population according to their level of risk" and "identify those at the top of that range to say, 'you should be prioritised for vaccine and you have a level of risk that is similar to those on the shielding list'". Read full story Source: BBC News, 16 February 2021

With the first phase of the UK’s vaccination programme now fully under way, the government’s self-congratulatory tone suggests all clinically vulnerable groups are soon in line for protection. There’s certainly reason to be positive: millions of people are on their way to safety. But look a little closer and many high-risk people are struggling to access the vaccine. When the vaccine was first introduced last year, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) put shielders – or the “clinically extremely vulnerable” (CEV) – as low as sixth on the priority list, behind older people with no underlying health conditions. It resulted in the baffling situation where a marathon-running 65-year-old was given priority for the vaccine over a 20-year-old with lung disease who needs oxygen support. The government U-turned after pressure, moving CEV people up to fourth spot behind healthy over-75s. These are complex calculations, but there are still fears some will miss out. Some young disabled people who don’t meet the government’s narrow criteria of CEV and are worried they won’t be prioritised at all. Shielders – many of whom are of working age and live with children – also have extra risk factors compared with older people. As the British Medical Association said this month, we need a more sophisticated vaccine delivery that takes into account circumstantial factors such as race, health inequality and employment. I’ve received many messages from shielders who are terrified of being forced out to work, or of schools reopening before they get their vaccine. There are also those with learning disabilities to consider. Currently, only older people with a learning disability, those who have Down’s syndrome or people who are judged as having a severe learning disability are on the priority list. This means that people with a mild or moderate learning disability aren’t prioritised at all. This is despite the fact all people with learning disabilities have a death rate six times higher than the general population. Young adults with a learning disability are 30 times more likely to die of Covid than young adults in the general population. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 3 February 2021

The entire Covid shielding programme has been “closed” for good in an announcement slipped out at night during a Cabinet reshuffle. Clinically extremely vulnerable people will “not be advised to shield again” in future despite fears of a huge winter wave, said the statement uploaded to the government website last week. Furious charities today raised fears disabled and immunosuppressed people will be “cast adrift” - while others will feel “yet again forgotten by the government”. Some 3.8million vulnerable people were advised to shield during England’s third lockdown, going outside only for exercise or health appointments. That guidance was paused on 1 April and on July 19 people were told they could follow the same rules as the rest of the population. But the ‘Shielded Patient List’ was retained for future use and ex-shielders were given special tips, such as only meeting vaccinated people. Last night, however, the government announced there will no longer be “centralised guidance” for clinically extremely vulnerable people. Read full story Source: Mirror, 16 September 2021