Extra 1.7m vulnerable added to shielding list

[Mitz]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-56086965


There is to be a large expansion of the number of people being asked to shield in England, the government has announced.

An extra 1.7 million people are expected to be added to the 2.3 million already on the list.

For some it will also mean they are now prioritised for vaccination.

This comes after a new model was developed that takes into account extra factors rather than just someone's health.

This calculation includes things like ethnicity, deprivation and weight to work out a person's risk of becoming seriously ill if they were to catch Covid.

Do people have to shield?

At the moment only those with specific conditions or undergoing certain types of treatment have been advised to shield.

They include adults with Down's Syndrome, organ donor recipients and people with severe respiratory conditions.

The new model was developed following work by Oxford University which looked at the characteristics of people who died in the first wave.

Medical records have been searched to identify high risk patients now and they are now being sent letters informing of them of their new status, which means they are entitled to statutory sick pay, prioritisation for online shopping slots and help collecting medicines.

New shielders prioritised for vaccine
Of the 1.7 million, around 900,000 have already received an offer of a vaccination because they were over 70.

The remainder are all thought to fall into one of the priority groups that are being invited for vaccination next.

They will be bumped up the list first for a jab, the government said.

Shielding was re-introduced in tier four areas from mid December, before being expanded nationally once the third lockdown was announced in early January.

Unlike in the first lockdown, people who are shielding are being advised they can leave their homes for exercise.

Deputy chief medical officer for England Dr Jenny Harries said: "This action ensures those most vulnerable to Covid can benefit from both the protection that vaccines provide and from enhanced advice and support should they choose it."

The model has been shared with the devolved nations. It is being left up to them to decide what to do with it.

 

[Cliffyboy1962]

I am I the only one reading this story and thinking, "So how many disabled people have died, unvaccinated in the past few weeks since the rollout began, who should have been at the top of the priority list but where somehow missed or forgotten?" Surely this could go down as one of the biggest fuck ups in the pandemic, so far? or am I getting it all wrong?

Deputy chief medical officer for England Dr Jenny Harries said: "This action ensures those most vulnerable to Covid can benefit from both the protection that vaccines provide and from enhanced advice and support should they choose it."

I thought they already knew who was the most vulnerable to Covid and had based their rollout priority on that knowledge. Are they now saying that they got this wrong?

 

[Mitz]

I am I the only one reading this story and thinking, "So how many disabled people have died, unvaccinated in the past few weeks since the rollout began, who should have been at the top of the priority list but where somehow missed or forgotten?" Surely this could go down as one of the biggest fuck ups in the pandemic, so far? or am I getting it all wrong?

Deputy chief medical officer for England Dr Jenny Harries said: "This action ensures those most vulnerable to Covid can benefit from both the protection that vaccines provide and from enhanced advice and support should they choose it."

I thought they already knew who was the most vulnerable to Covid and had based their rollout priority on that knowledge. Are they now saying that they got this wrong?

No, they're not saying they got it wrong, IMHO. They're saying that with the availability of more detailed data and modelling they can now add even more people to the vulnerable list using complex data sets that are not only dependant on specific known medical conditions but a wide variety of factors relating to people's vulnerability to covid that's been built up over the course of the pandemic.

That's how I read it anyway but I wholeheartedly feel that it could have / should have come much sooner. Raw data has been available for quite a while now.

But protecting even more vulnerable people as more and more data is made available and utilised has got to be a good thing IMHO.

That's just my take on it anyway for whatever it's worth. They used basic health data initially and now they're refining the selection process by using many other relevant factors learned during the pandemic.

Could they have done more sooner? I would imagine so. Much more. The number of dead in this country clearly shows that not enough has been done.

 

[crustyfolker]

I am I the only one reading this story and thinking, "So how many disabled people have died, unvaccinated in the past few weeks since the rollout began, who should have been at the top of the priority list but where somehow missed or forgotten?" Surely this could go down as one of the biggest fuck ups in the pandemic, so far? or am I getting it all wrong?

Deputy chief medical officer for England Dr Jenny Harries said: "This action ensures those most vulnerable to Covid can benefit from both the protection that vaccines provide and from enhanced advice and support should they choose it."

I thought they already knew who was the most vulnerable to Covid and had based their rollout priority on that knowledge. Are they now saying that they got this wrong?

what happens is the Gov have a plot to get rid of as much outgoings as they can, but they have to try and hide the fact. pansioners range from late 60's to who knows, now if the gov protects the oldest first then anyone who is is pension aged in their 60's has a chance of catching covid and maybe death, now consider an 80 plus year old maywell only live a few more years by protecting them first the hope is the younder pensioners die off a bit and this will save a fortune. The same goes for the disabled, diabetics are still in the queue and most diabetics have a much worse immune system. If the gov can lose some diabetics its a saving on medication (diabetics get free perscriptions). What i would like to know is are people on Pip and higher benefits rates being left back in the queue. This would resolve my theory. But it is as usual the Gov trying it on then getting found out, The Gov mistakes are part others mistakes, business moaning, etc puts pressure on and pressure leads to shortcuts and inevitably mistakes. The problems with Covid are bad. it is annoying being locked down but just wait till everything starts reverting back to "normal". Folks will be worse off as the Tories try to balance the books and then instead of lockdown, There will be no money to go out, it's going to be worse than having some money but being forced to stay in

 

[zouzounaki]

what happens is the Gov have a plot to get rid of as much outgoings as they can, but they have to try and hide the fact. pansioners range from late 60's to who knows, now if the gov protects the oldest first then anyone who is is pension aged in their 60's has a chance of catching covid and maybe death, now consider an 80 plus year old maywell only live a few more years by protecting them first the hope is the younder pensioners die off a bit and this will save a fortune. The same goes for the disabled, diabetics are still in the queue and most diabetics have a much worse immune system. If the gov can lose some diabetics its a saving on medication (diabetics get free perscriptions). What i would like to know is are people on Pip and higher benefits rates being left back in the queue. This would resolve my theory. But it is as usual the Gov trying it on then getting found out, The Gov mistakes are part others mistakes, business moaning, etc puts pressure on and pressure leads to shortcuts and inevitably mistakes. The problems with Covid are bad. it is annoying being locked down but just wait till everything starts reverting back to "normal". Folks will be worse off as the Tories try to balance the books and then instead of lockdown, There will be no money to go out, it's going to be worse than having some money but being forced to stay in

do you think the scientists and medical professionals who are on the committee that advise the government on this stuff are all in their scheme to kill the vulnerable, then?

 

[Mitz]

do you think the scientists and medical professionals who are on the committee that advise the government on this stuff are all in their scheme to kill the vulnerable, then?

They're all in on it. Why do you think they wanted to vaccinate medical professionals first? Wasn't to keep them safe it was so they could get them chipped and turned on to the beasty 5G network so they'd help with implementing the diabolical government plan to eradicate the old.

 

[Mawsley]

do you think the scientists and medical professionals who are on the committee that advise the government on this stuff are all in their scheme to kill the vulnerable, then?

 

[crustyfolker]

do you think the scientists and medical professionals who are on the committee that advise the government on this stuff are all in their scheme to kill the vulnerable, then?

err no, the scientific advice has been ignored on numerous occassions by Boris, We already know BIGP and BIGT influence Gov's and other organizations with Money. All a big Co has to do is threaten to take their business abroad and the thought of tax loss puts the wind up the Gov and thus they do a u turn. It's actually Money that is behind all the mistakes, nothing is health professionals fault they have been heroes throughtout. What i have said makes sense to me, lockdown is working and now folks are saying open everything up again!. No keep it like it is till no new cases then open up again, otherwise it will be a mistake and back to square 1 again.
All that has happened from the OP is Boris has been questioned on why and who, when and where and has been caught out again, thus he has had to do a u turn. Very very poor leadership, thinking no one will notice then having to change his stance on several occassions.

 

[zouzounaki]

err no, the scientific advice has been ignored on numerous occassions by Boris, We already know BIGP and BIGT influence Gov's and other organizations with Money. All a big Co has to do is threaten to take their business abroad and the thought of tax loss puts the wind up the Gov and thus they do a u turn. It's actually Money that is behind all the mistakes, nothing is health professionals fault they have been heroes throughtout. What i have said makes sense to me, lockdown is working and now folks are saying open everything up again!. No keep it like it is till no new cases then open up again, otherwise it will be a mistake and back to square 1 again.
All that has happened from the OP is Boris has been questioned on why and who, when and where and has been caught out again, thus he has had to do a u turn. Very very poor leadership, thinking no one will notice then having to change his stance on several occassions.

but i don’t think they ignored this advice, about how to vaccinate people.

 

[Leni]

What i would like to know is are people on Pip and higher benefits rates being left back in the queue. This would resolve my theory

I can only speak for myself, but I’ve had the first jab, and I receive disability benefits. I think you’re being paranoid tbh, mistakes are going to happen when colossal efforts are being made to vaccinate millions of people within a very short time frame.