Coronavirus: Vaccination

(asked on 1st March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will enable (a) the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE), (b) local authorities and (c) GPs to recommend people with complex disabilities and their family carers to the covid-19 vaccine prioritisation list.


Answered by
Nadhim Zahawi Portrait
Nadhim Zahawi
This question was answered on 19th April 2021

There are no plans to do so.

Based on current evidence, complex disabilities are not considered by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation to mean an automatically increased risk for serious outcomes from COVID-19. However, many people with complex disabilities will have other conditions which mean they do meet the criteria for either priority group four for those who are clinically extremely vulnerable or priority group six for those who have underlying conditions which create a heightened risk. Anyone in either of those groups or who are aged 50 years old or over have now been offered vaccination.

Adult carers, defined as those aged 16 years old or over, are being prioritised for vaccination alongside priority group six. This includes unpaid and family carers. Criteria include eligibility for a carer’s allowance, being the sole or primary carer for an elderly person or person who is at increased risk of COVID-19 mortality and therefore clinically vulnerable.

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