Covid: Who is classed as clinically extremely vulnerable?

More than four million people in the UK – including over-80s, care home residents, and NHS and social care staff – have already received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine, but from Monday (January 18) it will be rolled out to the next two priority groups.

But, who is classed as extremely vulnerable and what can people do to protect themselves from the deadly bug?

Who is extremely vulnerable?

According to the Government's website, people who are clinically extremely vulnerable are at very high risk of severe illness from coronavirus.

There are two ways you may be identified as clinically extremely vulnerable.

1. Your clinician or GP has added you to the Shielded Patient List because, based on their judgement, they believe you are at higher risk of serious illness if you catch the virus.
2. You have one or more of conditions listed below:

• solid organ transplant recipients

• people with cancer who are undergoing active chemotherapy
• people with lung cancer who are undergoing radical radiotherapy
• people with cancers of the blood or bone marrow such as leukaemia, lymphoma or myeloma who are at any stage of treatment
• people having immunotherapy or other continuing antibody treatments for cancer
• people having other targeted cancer treatments that can affect the immune system, such as protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors
• people who have had bone marrow or stem cell transplants in the last 6 months or who are still taking immunosuppression drugs
• people with severe respiratory conditions including all cystic fibrosis, severe asthma and severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
• people with rare diseases that significantly increase the risk of infections (such as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), homozygous sickle cell disease)
• people on immunosuppression therapies sufficient to significantly increase risk of infection
• problems with your spleen, for example splenectomy (having your spleen removed)
• adults with Down’s syndrome
• adults on dialysis or with chronic kidney disease (stage 5)
• women who are pregnant with significant heart disease, congenital or acquired

Advice for extremely vulnerable people

The new lockdown rules, which came into force on January 5, mean those who are clinically extremely vulnerable should stay at home as much as possible.

The guidance stresses people can still go outside for exercise or to attend health appointments, but try to keep all contact with others outside of your household to a minimum, and avoid busy areas.

You can still meet with your support bubble, but you cannot meet others you do not live with unless they are part of your support bubble.

Outdoors, you can meet one person from another household for exercise. This is part of the wider national regulations that apply to everyone.

For work, you are strongly advised to work from home, because the risk of exposure to the virus in their area may currently be higher.

If you cannot work from home, then you should not attend work.

High risk children and young people should not attend school or other educational settings.

You are advised not to go to the shops.

Instead, use online shopping if you can, or ask others to collect and deliver shopping for you (friends and family, local volunteers or NHS Volunteer Responders).