People who have Down’s syndrome moved higher up the vaccine priority list and offered free Vitamin D

Following the announcement of the draft vaccine priority list some weeks ago, we have been fighting hard to get people classed as Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) moved higher up the list. We are delighted to announce that has now happened!

People over the age of 18 who have Down’s syndrome were added to the CEV list at the beginning of November. The initial draft vaccine priority list placed the CEV as sixth in line, behind anyone 65 and over. The new draft list places clinically extremely vulnerable individuals in priority group four of nine, at the same priority level as those aged over 70.

The interim guidance, advised by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), says the order of priority should be:

1. Older adults in a care home and care home workers
2. All those 80 years of age and over and health and social care workers
3. All those 75 years of age and over
4. All those 70 years of age and over and the clinically extremely vulnerable individuals, excluding pregnant women and those under 18 years of age
5. All those 65 years of age and over
6. Adults aged 18 to 65 years in an at-risk group
7. All those aged 60 and over
8. All those 55 and over
9. All those aged 50 and over

Read more here.

A further piece of good news announced at the weekend is that people on the CEV list in England will now be able to apply to have a four month supply of Vitamin D sent to them directly by the NHS, free of charge. The process for registering for this will be announced shortly and we will share these details as soon as we can. The DSA wrote to the Department of Health and Social Care at the beginning of October requesting people who have Down’s syndrome be given Vitamin D.

‘These are two major steps forward that have happened as a direct result of the DSA advocating on behalf of people who have Down’s syndrome. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has contacted the DSA and those who have attended our weekly COVID 19 Update webinars. With your help, we have been able to gather evidence of the problems that people who have Down’s syndrome have been experiencing with COVID 19 and the implications of being added to the CEV list.

‘We are in constant conversation with the Department of Health and Social Care so that we can bring you the very latest information.’ – Carol Boys, Chief Executive, DSA