This is a press release from the Department for Health and Social Care
- 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
More
than 3.79 million clinically extremely vulnerable people in England will be
informed they are no longer advised to shield from Thursday 1 April 2021.
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
two 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.
How do you feel about this? Will this affect you or a loved one? Do you have any questions?
