- Advice to the clinically extremely vulnerable to shield
ceases from Thursday 1 April, as virus infection rates continue
to fall
- People on shielded patient list will receive letters from
today with updated guidance on steps people can take to reduce
their risk
- More than 9 in 10 clinically extremely vulnerable people have
been vaccinated with a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
In line with the government’s COVID-19 Response - Spring
2021 roadmap published last month, those on the shielded
patient list can begin to follow the national restrictions
alongside the rest of the population, but are still advised to
take extra precautions to keep themselves safe from COVID-19.
Letters to patients with updated guidance will be arriving from
today and over the next 2 weeks. These set out practical steps
people can follow to reduce their risk of catching the virus,
including continuing to maintain strict social distancing and to
keep their overall social contacts at low levels, such as working
from home where possible.
The move follows the steady decrease in the number of COVID-19
cases and hospitalisations across the country for the last couple
of weeks.
Senior clinicians, including the Deputy Chief Medical Officer for
England, Dr Jenny Harries, have recommended that shielding advice
is paused nationally from 1 April onwards, as supported by the
latest scientific evidence and advice.
With the success of the UK’s COVID-19 vaccination programme, more
than 9 in 10 clinically extremely vulnerable people are now
vaccinated with their first dose, but it’s still important people
continue to follow the national rules and take the additional
precautions set out in the guidance to keep themselves as
protected as possible.
Local councils and supermarkets will continue to provide support
for those shielding until 31 March. If people have already
registered for priority access to supermarket delivery slots,
they will continue to be able to access these until 21 June 2021.
Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England, Dr Jenny Harries, said:
Shielding has always been an advisory measure to safeguard
those who are the most clinically vulnerable in our
communities. We recognise how difficult this period has been
for so many and the impact it has had on people’s wellbeing.
With the prevalence of the virus in the community continuing to
decrease now is the right time for people to start thinking
about easing up on these more rigid guidelines.
If you have been shielding, we strongly urge you to take extra
precautions following 1 April to keep yourself as safe as
possible, such as continuing to observe social distancing and
working from home.
We will continue to monitor all of the evidence and adjust this
advice should there be any changes in infection rates.
People are still advised to continue working from home where
possible, but if people are unable to do so, employers are
required by law to take steps to make workplaces COVID-19 secure
and should discuss this with their employees.
In February 2021, the government announced a new predictive risk
model that helps clinicians identify additional people who may be
at higher cumulative risk from COVID-19 due to the combination of
their underlying risk factors.
Up to 1.7 million vulnerable individuals were identified by the
tool, taking the total number of people in the shielded patient
list up to 3.79 million people, as of 6 March 2021. As a result,
over 800,000 more adults have been prioritised to receive a
vaccine that weren’t already in the top four priority groups for
phase one of vaccinations.
Updated guidance will be published on GOV.UK.
Read more about the
COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021.
Figures on those on the
shielded patient list are published by NHS Digital.
If you are aged 16 or older and have been advised you are
clinically extremely vulnerable, you should already have been
offered your first dose of the vaccine. If you have not yet
received your first dose, please contact your GP.
If you have received your first dose, you should still ensure you
take up your second dose of the vaccine when it is offered to
you. Having 2 doses should further increase your level of
protection.
No vaccine is 100% effective and therefore even if you have had
both doses, there is still no absolute guarantee that you will
not become ill from COVID-19. Therefore, you should continue to
take the extra precautions set out in this guidance to help
protect yourself.
See the latest vaccination
statistics.
