Which vaccination group is she in?

[choosingcrumble]

My Mum is 69 years old (70 in May) She has suffered with Rheumatoid Arthritis since the age of 36 and has had two spinal surgeries. Basically not in the best of health.

She is on the medication prednisone which suppresses her immune system. My Mum was suffering from Shingles during the summer and ended up in a High Dependency unit with pneumonia, narrowly missing ICU. She ended up being in hospital for 2 weeks and she has fluid (empyema?) pockets near the lungs.

My Dad is already 70 and we are expecting him to be called for his vaccine soon but I am very worried about my Mum. Do you think she will be called in group 4 due to being on steroids that suppress the immune system. She is very frail and weighed only 4.5 stone when admitted to the hospital in the summer. Or do you think she will fall into group 5?

Please help.

Did she get a shielding letter. If she did then she will be in group 4, if not it will group 6, I think.

If she shielded, then priority 4 - did she get a letter?

Otherwise group 5 (age)

If you think she should be shielded (and shielding continues irrespective of jab) then she needs to contact her hospital team or GP to arrange her inclusion. Vax priority follows that.

Has she been living in a shielded sort of way, even without the letter? Does she think she should be?

Depends how much pred

There's a flow chart here

www.leedsth.nhs.uk/assets/f6d9e3ac11/Flowchart-Guide-to-Social-Distancing-for-Rheumatology-patients-on-Immunosuppressants-and-Steroids.pdf

Thanks for the flow chart, she is on 2 pred so Strict Social Distance but not shielding so I guess this doesn't move her further up the list. Her mental state is terrible and she's not been able to see family members for months. Healthwise she is at far more risk than my 70-year-old Dad.

But....if she was 70 (which she will be in 12 weeks time she would be shielding)

Actually no...she should have received a shielding letter at the first lockdown. She was on 5 x tablets of 5mg of pred then. She is on a minimum of 2 sometimes more. Also, she has high blood pressure and has had steriod injections in the last three months for flares.

If your Dad gets asks for his by phone, mention your Mum, it may help.