Shielding list to be virtually doubled

[Bonsa]

And go from 2.2 million to 3.9 million.

Breaking news...

Well the shielding person I know has been made redundant, diagnosed with a second chronic illness last year and lost a friend so believe me, she is not in the happily working from home and financially secure group.

I don't think many shielders are having it easy and it is not their fault. Many who are shielding had difficult lives before juggling employment/General life with a chronic illness. I know which position I would rather be in.

As a shielder I can say you really don’t want to be in our shoes.

OhYouBadBadKitten You're right, I guess the people I know shielding might not be representative. It sucks. But I'm still not convinced that those very vulnerable to lockdown but not covid should have been made to suffer quite as much. I guess I was thinking in terms of the vaccine too - once the shielding are vaccinated (+time taken for immunity) then there really is no reason for the non covid-vulnerable to be locked down, which seems to be what night be happening as pp suggested, with the extending of the vulnerable list.

FuzzyPuffling
Anyone in doubt, try replacing "shielding" with "abandoned" and you'll be much closer to the mark.

Don't be ridiculous. This whole damn year has been about saving lives of people who are vulnerable to covid! People have all sorts of disabilities and problems that are dreadfully unfair but the country doesn't change for them (eg. why don't we all pull together to make the country autism-friendly for example?)
I'm not saying shielding couldn't have been managed better, or that there aren't issues - but you really haven't been forgotten.

Those living alone (including some shielding people) were truly abandoned in the first lockdown. It took 2.5 months before anyone considered we might need to see or touch another human being. Meanwhile being called murderers for suggesting this really wasn't fair (bubbles should have existed from the start).

Shielding is completely optional, so will people continue when they’re vaccinated, especially if they don’t come out as that high on the new algorithm?

*Today 08:22 nether

Egghead68
I suspect they’ve extended shielding to more people and to all us existing shielders for longer so they can start getting schools back.
How does that work - other than by increasing anxiety amongst all those newly shielding who have school age DC*

If they ask more of the people likely to end up in hospital to stay at home then they keep numbers in hospitals lower. We are then more able to tolerate the inevitable rise in hospitalisations from schools going back without the hospitals becoming overwhelmed.

@LemonSherbetFancies

I wouldn't be surprised if there was a 'Shield the vulnerable, let everyone else out' scenario going on which would be deeply unfair but none of this makes much sense.

Yes, or certainly schools back scenario anyhow.

But how does that work when some of those new shielders are school staff? Not including myself, I can think of four other staff that I know of who will now be shielding according to what we know so far.

Shielders who are school staff must be a pretty small number and not a big deal in the scheme of things to the government. They need to get schools back (and preferably other things open) to appease the ERG/CRG/whatever they are calling themselves now.

I don’t think there’s any chance they’ll stop shielding before all schools are back.

@Egghead68

Shielders who are school staff must be a pretty small number and not a big deal in the scheme of things to the government. They need to get schools back (and preferably other things open) to appease the ERG/CRG/whatever they are calling themselves now.

I don’t think there’s any chance they’ll stop shielding before all schools are back.

Thinking of my school, that's all but two members of the support staff.

Oh, and the staff who volunteered to run the in school tests. Every single one of them.

@Egghead68

Shielders who are school staff must be a pretty small number and not a big deal in the scheme of things to the government. They need to get schools back (and preferably other things open) to appease the ERG/CRG/whatever they are calling themselves now.

I don’t think there’s any chance they’ll stop shielding before all schools are back.

We have 7 currently, from a staff of c.120, that's not insignificant. Double it and it's over 10%

I know there are quite a few shielding teachers at my children's schools. When I have been discussing our situation as a shielding family, on 3 occasions the teacher in question has mentioned that they are also shielding themselves. I also know of another teacher who came to teaching as a change of profession on health grounds. And this is just from 1 to 1 conversations with relevant staff during lockdown, I wouldn't have had a clue otherwise.

The concept of shielding is fundamentally flawed given the number of covid deaths in care homes and hospitals which should be "safe" places for those shielding! Not to mention those stuck at home relying on carers, home deliveries, etc., who are given covid passed to them by those who are "caring" for them and making their deliveries.

Then, of course, those "shielding" in their own homes who they share with school age children, working spouses, etc who can't be trapped at home to protect the shielding person either.

We need covid to be controlled at low enough levels in wider society/community so that the carers and people sharing a home with a shielder is less likely to catch it and spread it in a supposedly "safe" environment.

@Egghead68

Shielders who are school staff must be a pretty small number and not a big deal in the scheme of things to the government. They need to get schools back (and preferably other things open) to appease the ERG/CRG/whatever they are calling themselves now.

I don’t think there’s any chance they’ll stop shielding before all schools are back.

Well I'm one....

Although I've never shielded. I also know of a lot of other school staff on the list....

@Egghead68

Shielders who are school staff must be a pretty small number and not a big deal in the scheme of things to the government. They need to get schools back (and preferably other things open) to appease the ERG/CRG/whatever they are calling themselves now.

I don’t think there’s any chance they’ll stop shielding before all schools are back.

There are plenty of "shielders" who would normally be at work. Not all shielders are old and severely disabled - far from it. Many will have diseases which affect lungs or immunity, but who are otherwise well enough to have a normal working life. There'll be lots of cancer sufferers who have impaired immunity due to their condition or treatment who'll likewise be working normally in normal times, but having to shield at the moment.

That's interesting Crayon. Our LA have told us we're not allowed to have people with a shielding letter in school, even if they want to come on site.

There is an update on my Doctors website to anyone who has got a letter saying they are newly asked to shield.

It repeats the info about a new algorithm based on the QCovid thing mentioned a lot on this thread. And it says that anyone in this list will be moved ahead of Priority Group 6 who is not on the list. Anyone 65+ should have been done/invited already.

So I was right, it is creating 2 sub sections in Group 6 - those with new higher priority who have been identified by the new algorithm, and those within Group 6 who were already identified at risk and who don’t have the extra factors and aren’t asked to shield.

It seems to me, that for vaccination, Group 6 probably aren’t really extended overall, because would anyone appear in the new shielding e tra list that wasn’t already modernity at vulnerable and in group 6...8its just that the very large group 6 has been split into 2.

I suppose if this QCovid thing had been up and running sooner, lots of these people would have been CEV and in one of the top 4 priority groups and already done. They ought to be done in the next week or so, before other Group 6 people...although lots of Group 6 have already been invited, many of whom won’t appear in the more at risk category.

Some Group 6 people might have to wait a bit longer for vaccine, but better that, than to be identified as more at risk and asked to shield!

*user1497207191

Egghead68
Shielders who are school staff must be a pretty small number and not a big deal in the scheme of things to the government. They need to get schools back (and preferably other things open) to appease the ERG/CRG/whatever they are calling themselves now.

I don’t think there’s any chance they’ll stop shielding before all schools are back.
There are plenty of "shielders" who would normally be at work. Not all shielders are old and severely disabled - far from it. Many will have diseases which affect lungs or immunity, but who are otherwise well enough to have a normal working life. There'll be lots of cancer sufferers who have impaired immunity due to their condition or treatment who'll likewise be working normally in normal times, but having to shield at the moment*

I am a working shielder. I know.

I think around 7% of the adult population are being asked to shield of whom around half will be of working age.

Assuming teachers and school staff are not over-represented in the shielding population that should mean around 3.5% of them are shielding.

Please don't call me ridiculous. You have no idea.

@Toorapid

That's interesting Crayon. Our LA have told us we're not allowed to have people with a shielding letter in school, even if they want to come on site.

Oh wow! Well no, I've never wanted to shield and so I haven't. I told my GP I didn't wish to as well and so all the phone calls checking on wellbeing etc stopped - I didn't want them because 1. I'm not doing it and I'm at work and my kids are at school, and 2. I don't want the time being wasted on me when it could be used speaking to people who are sheilding and may need support and help. I also didn't want to be offered the food support etc because we go to the shops as normal.

So back last year I "officially" told my drs that I wouldn't shield and was removed off the contact lists - because, as I was told by my drs it is a choice, not the law and no one can make you . I still get the letters though and got them last night as it goes.

I don't see how reasonably an LA could stop someone when it's only guidelines!

Well slightly dodgy maths perhaps but anyhow a pretty low percentage of the workforce (including school staff) will be shielding - well under 7%.

Shielders who are school staff must be a pretty small number and not a big deal in the scheme of things to the government. They need to get schools back (and preferably other things open) to appease the ERG/CRG/whatever they are calling themselves now.

Why all of a sudden do the vulnerable but not shielded - group 6 - no longer matter?

Group 6 are vulnerable. They've been told this since the beginning. They're told to be super careful, work from home wherever possible, if unable to work from home to take precautions and ask work to help keep the safer, etc.

Yet group 6 teachers - and there are many - are not expected to be able to protect themselves further. They're expected to be in a crowded classroom with no SD and no masks, nothing bar an open window perhaps.

I'm group 6. Caught covid during the autumn term. Ended up in hospital and with 7 weeks off work. 4 months later and I'm still not fully better.

Won't be vaccinated for a few more weeks as where I live has a large older demographic - so they're still on groups 1-4 and only just starting to send letters to group 5.

Yet on March 8 I, and others in group 6, will be yet again in schools teaching full classes, often across year groups and across whole schools, with no protection.

We can't keep telling these groups that in one hand they're vulnerable and on another hand they should just be working as normal and hoping for the best, surely?

Abraxan I agree with you. I don’t agree with what I think the government is doing (trying to appease the right wing of their party).

@FuzzyPuffling

Please don't call me ridiculous. You have no idea.

And you clearly have no idea how much some people have suffered due to lockdown, especially the first one. We were unable to meet our basic needs of human contact. I would rather be dead than live with what covid has done to my life and mental health.

I doubt there will be huge numbers of working age people in the new list as age is such a big factor in the risk assessment. I think it’s definitely a step forward for those with multiple risk factors to be priorities for vaccines. Hopefully shielding will not be needed at all after the end of March. If it is, they should re-do the list as shielding unnecessarily much certainly have a negative impact on most people

Our school has sent an email to [arents in the trust praising the teachers (rightly) and saying how even the cv and ecv chose (or should it be "chose"?!) to come into work....