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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Politics
Dave Burke

Thousands still shielding from Covid 'failed by ministers' as support cut back

Thousands of vulnerable people in their fourth year of shielding from Covid say they are being "completely failed" by ministers - with support being cut further this week.

From Tuesday the NHS will stop automatically contacting immunosuppressed patients who test positive - a move alarmed MPs say will cost more lives.

Campaigners warn the pademic isn't over for severely immunosuppressed patients, with many still cancelling medical appointments and surgery for fear of contracting the virus.

Cross-party MPs have hit out over the scaling down of protections and called on the Government to bring in new measures.

Prof Martin Eve, who heads Forgotten Lives UK - representing vulnerable patients at heightened risk from Covid - said the virus still poses a "lethal risk" to people with conditions that make them vulnerable, including himself.

Martin, 37, said his life has yet to return to normal after he started shielding in early 2020 - and said people like him have been "completely overlooked" by ministers.

Prof Martin Eve said those still at heightened risk from Covid are "completely overlooked" (Supplied)
Martin, who heads Forgotten Lives UK, described the devastating toll the pandemic has had (Supplied)

More than a dozen cross-party MPs, led by Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper, have called for the NHS to continue contacting vulnerable patients with conditions like blood cancers and kidney disease.

Ms Cooper told The Mirror: "Unless the Government reverses this there's a real risk some of the most vulnerable people in the country are going to die."

And she stated: "For these people if they catch Covid it's absolutely lethal."

MPs say they are "alarmed" by the disbandment of key teams including the Enhanced Protection Programme and the Covid-19 Antivirals and Therapeutics Taskforce.

Disability rights campaigner Martin, who spent a month in hospital earlier this year, told The Mirror that cutbacks already made to Covid support has taken its toll.

Since the Government's Covid Medicines Delivery Units were shut, he said, many GPs do not seem to know they're responsible for providing antiviral drugs.

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said she is alarmed by the 'failure' to protect the most vulnerable (PA)

He said: "We have had several members report that their GP reception had no idea what to do when they asked about this.

"We want a safe and effective system for administering Covid therapies to the most vulnerable."

Martin, who has vasculitis and secondary immunodeficiency, said the mental health impact of shielding for over three years is "extreme".

"Most of the public freaked out at being asked to lock down for a few weeks," he said.

"We are at well over 1,000 days and counting. Friends and family who want to visit have to isolate before they do so.

"The only outing I make in public indoor spaces is to go to the hospital for vital treatments. This is not sustainable."

Despite having been jabbed six times, Martin said he hasn't developed antibodies due to his health conditions, and in January he spent a month seriously ill in hospital with Covid.

The Professor of Literature, Technology and Publishing at Birkbeck College has campaigned for antibody treatment Evusheld to be made available - as it is in 27 other countries.

Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell is among MPs to have signed an early day motion raising the alarm (Getty Images)

He says ministers should also offer vaccine boosters to the families and carers of immunocompromised people.

Martin said there are around 2,000 members of Forgotten Lives UK, with many facing horrendous isolation.

"We end up fielding emails from people who are suicidal, and who say they're going to have to sell their house as they can't work," he said.

He said he is pleased that MPs have raised the plight of those in his situation with ministers, even if it is unlikely to be debated in Parliament

A motion put forward by Ms Cooper called on the Commons to express "regret" over the "continued failure" to protect people most vulnerable to Covid.

It said that people forced to carry on shielding or social distancing are missing out on employment opportunities and claimed the latest booster programme "has not been adequately promoted".

The motion, whose signatories include former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, urges the Government to set up a vulnerable patients task force to "accelerate access to effective drugs and treatments".

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are determined to support the most vulnerable against Covid and immunocompromised patients are a priority for treatments, free Covid tests and vaccination.

“As we live with the virus, it is vital we move from the extraordinary pandemic arrangements back to using our usual processes. This will ensure that we have the right medicines available to treat patients – which are also cost-effective.

“We continue to work closely with NHS England to support its spring booster campaign, and more than 3.6 million people have come forward to get their jab – more than half of those eligible.”

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