CEV and not offered vaccine

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I was wondering if anyone can help. My husband is in the CEV category but he hasn’t been offered the vaccine. Everywhere we look it seems to suggest he should have had an invite by now. We can’t book online and we tried calling the doctors but they are refusing to let him speak to a doctor. They just say they have an order and because he’s 35 he won’t get an invite yet. I wasn’t aware age was a factor when CEV. We called 119 but they said he needs his doctor to flag him. We’re not sure what to do but have school aged children and we’re really hoping he would have had the first dose by now. Is anyone else CEV and still waiting? Is it our doctors at fault? Any help would be appreciated, it feels like we’re going round in circles.

This is ridiculous. Insist on speaking to the doctor and if refused ask to speak to the practice manager. Receptionist may not have all the info. If you have e-consult you can use that to get in touch with your doctor. I didn't know that receptionists can say that you cannot speak to a doctor. It's not up to them whom the doctor speaks to. You don't have to tell them what its about. And when you do speak to Dr you can say why you have had to take up the appt due to receptionist being misinformed

I mean I'm 35 and CEV and have been offered by my Dr. I also have a friend who's 33 with the same illnesses as me also offered so - it's nothing to do with age.

You are correct

Have you still got his shielding letter?

These should be in record with the GP, but it sounds as if something has gone astray with his records and it is not flagging correctly. When did he hast have a consultant review and have you still got the letter that would have followed from that appointment!

Write to the doctor perhaps?

Try emailing the practice?

If he has a shielding letter he’ll be able to book on the main booking system. If not then he’ll be vaccinated with group six (clinically vulnerable) or according to his age.

Did he receive official shielding letter or are you defining him CEV based on your knowledge of his medical condition?

I ask because, for example, I know one person with COPD that assumed they were CEV but weren't initially sent shielding letter. They challenged this with doctor who said they didn't get shielding letter as they were borderline, but did then issue shielding letter.

Could your husband be a similar case.

If he has received official shielding letter the. obviously ignore this post.

I know some are saying that asthma is no longer classed as a risk factor, so he may have been removed from the list if he's an asthmatic? If he is on the shielding list and had letter/emails saying he is then he must be down for the vaccine. I'd email the surgery and explain the situation, if you can't do that then I'd book an online consult with your gp.

Round us they are just starting over 65s from today, so under 70 CEVs would be the next category after that. I know other areas are ahead of us, but maybe you ate in an area like hours that -started way ahead and was doing brilliantly then told they would have reduced supply and- are now running a bit behind?

Failed on crossing out section between dashes.

I would email his GP surgery.

It could be that he hasn’t been coded properly with his illness (what is the reason for his CEV? Some are not pulled through on searches if they’ve been coded with a different code to that used for the Covid searches).

If he had a shielding letter then it’s unlikely that he’s been miscoded and should have been group 4 and already had his first dose.

If he’s CV and not CEV (and didn’t have to shield last year) then he’ll be called soon as group 6, depending on his condition. We’ve had to manually add some CV/CEV people on to the lists as they didn’t seem to be swept up in the first tranche due to wonky coding. It’s been very challenging.

I was in the same position and was told to use our local booking site to get a slot and take with me a hospital letter than had my nhs number on and either stated my illness or treatment which made me eligible

I was nervous to go but they were absolutely fine and I had the vaccine

The lady said they'd had a few people in similar circumstances

Have you rang 119 and tried to book over the phone?

And yes it has been difficult as some people assume they are CEV (understandably) due to their illnesses or conditions yet the government definitions don’t classify them as CV/CEV.

Asthma is being a particularly difficult situation to manage, especially as guidance has changed and the wording is prone to misinterpretation.

Did your dr say he is group 4? My dh has been misclassified as group 6. It’s done by a computer program. My dh’s condition is group 6 but his (uncommonly used in that condition) medication is on the group 4 list. The practice receptionist at my go was unhelpful and just insisted he was group 6. I spoke to the manager and explained so she reentered the information in priority order and within seconds he got a text to book. Maybe try speaking to the manager after checking the category lists?

You can book online if you fall into the right categories, which he does.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/?fbclid=IwAR1ICpRWAXPaHBky_CFRZK0k4AEGzouUk9Ch1EgtalmPsI0dkV5gimkHV2c

I’d phone them and ask again if your DH is flagged as being in the right category, and if they won’t tell him or let him discuss it with a doctor, I’d ask for their complaints procedure and then use it. Even if they have your DH in the right place on the list and haven’t got there yet, they should still be able to reassure you.

It’s vile the way these people can be so dismissive to those that have genuine and valid worries that could be easily addressed.

I think make an appointment to speak to the actual doc. Don’t have to say what it’s about. If he is on the CEV/shielding list then there shouldn’t be an issue. Receptionist is just wrong

@Scarby9 cev were supposed to be in with the 70+ In group 4 and should all have been offered a jab by now.

Under 65 At Risk is a separate group, group 6, and will go after the 65-70s.

So it depends if he’s CEV or Under 65 At Risk.

As 119 have said that the GP need to flag him, that strongly suggests he is not on the shielding list as CEV.

That is why he needs to go back to the shielding letter (ideally most recent, from this lockdown) or to the hospital consultant for the condition for which he has been shielding (most recent routine letter following an appointment should be enough). It may well be a gremlin in the GP records, and signposting the correspondence which should make it clear is likely to be what is needed.

I’m CEV, 37 and had my jab couple of weeks ago . So no nothing to do with age , I actually had mine before my Mum who has COPD and is 60 . So I do think it depends on what doctors you come under too , ours was grouping them together . I would email your practise manager .

Has he got a shielding letter ?
Insist on speaking to the practice manager.

Has he got a consultant? You could approach them?

A lot of children and working age adults were removed from the shielding list in the summer when they tightened the categories. Could he have been taken off, assuming he initially got a shielding letter last year?
If the receptionist/119 person says he needs flagging by the GP then that means he isn't currently flagged and is not currently on the shielding list - either by admin error or because he has been removed.
Or if he never got a shielding letter then wasn't on the list in the first place? Whatever it is, only the GP can fix it.

Thanks for all the replies. He has been getting the letters since the first lockdown. Unfortunately we can’t find any of them. I don’t know if we have put them somewhere or they were thrown away. Neither of us realised we’d need them as proof of anything. He does however have a text message that states they are contacting everyone that is CEV. His illness is an odd one and we’re wondering if that is where the mix up is. He was tested for MS about 8 years ago after an attack where he lost some vision in his left eye. They took some spinal fluid and confirmed he has the markers for MS but that it would only be confirmed after a second attack. It’s yet to happen (thankfully) but we are aware that it could. He gets the flu jab every year now.
119 wouldn’t entertain it at all. They said he needs to be flagged by his doctor. He said he’d been getting the letters but they didn’t seem to care.
The receptionist at the doctors just said she wouldn’t put him through to a doctor and they weren’t allowed to. She asked what his condition was and said “so you don’t have MS” so her understanding of the situation wasn’t great.
He asked to speak to the surgery manager who wasn’t in apparently but they they are having someone else call him back. Not sure what else we can do, it’s all a bit disheartening.