Freeman backs move on vaccines based on age groups
THE Health Secretary has said it would not be “justifiable, proportionate, or wise to deviate” from guidelines that recommend vaccinating under-50s against Covid based on age, not occupation.
The guidelines, published by the UK’S Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunisations (JCVI), have been described as “hugely disappointing” by police representatives in Scotland, while the teachers’ union, the EIS, said it would “greatly heighten” anxiety for teachers.
Professor Wei Shen Lim, Covid-19 chairman for the JCVI, told a press briefing that age is “still one of the most important causes of severe disease, even in those aged 50 years and below”.
The advisory body had considered prioritising occupations, such as teachers and police, but concluded this was outweighed by age and by the benefit of a simpler, faster process.
It states: “Those at highest risk of hospitalisation outside of cohorts one to nine are those aged 40-49.
“Unvaccinated individuals who are at increased risk on account of occupation, male sex, obesity, or ethnic background
are likely to be vaccinated most rapidly by an operationally simple vaccine strategy.”
Phase Two, which is expected to get under way from mid-april, will prioritise those aged 40-49; 30-39; and 18 to 29.
In a statement, the Scottish Police Federation said the decision was “hugely disappointing”.
It added: “Police officers are dealing with increasing non-compliance, increasing community risk and that is likely to get worse as those who are vaccinated are tempted not to follow regulations.
“We have spoken with the
Cabinet Secretary for Justice and have highlighted that those frontline officers on which the burden falls is the youngest part of our workforce and also that we are attending calls on behalf of partner agencies whose staff are both vaccinated and home working.”
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS, Scotland’s largest teaching union, said the decision “will greatly heighten the concerns of school staff over the safety of working in crowded classrooms without adequate safety mitigations in place”.
The union is lobbying the
Scottish Government to protect teachers by prioritising them for vaccinations as well as providing improved ventilation and medical-grade masks.
Mr Flanagan added: “The
Scottish Government has urged its devolved authority in the past to prioritise the vaccination of other groups of vital workers, such as care home staff, and must now act to ensure all staff in our schools are also protected from Covid risk.”
Health Secretary Jeane
Freeman said she understood the disappointment, but backed the JCVI guidelines.
She said: “They are crystal clear where the greatest risk factor lies, and it lies with age.
“It doesn’t lie on the basis of where you work, but on how old you are as well as if you have underlying health conditions or are clinically extremely vulnerable.”
She said the recommendations would make the rollout to all adults under 50 faster and simpler.
“Logistically, it also makes sense: it is straightforward for us to identify people on the basis of age through
our NHS Scotland highly secure and protected records.
“It’s much more difficult to go through those and work out who is a teacher, who works for the police force, who does something else – that takes longer.”
Evidence has shown that people from more deprived backgrounds, black and ethnic minority populations, men, people who are obese, and certain occupations – including drivers and factory workers – have been more likely to die from Covid.
However, some of this is difficult to untangle from other risk factors such as being more likely to catch coronavirus due to living in crowded accommodation or having low-paid jobs that cannot be done from home.
Deprivation is also linked to higher rates of heart or lung disease, and cancer, which increase the risk from Covid, while people from South-asian backgrounds are also more likely to have diabetes.
Professor Jason Leitch, Scotland’s national clinical director, said health and social care workers were prioritised because of the people they look after, rather than their own risk.
However, there has been controversy over back office NHS staff, who have no contact with patients, being vaccinated during the Priority Group One rollout.
Ms Freeman also told yesterday’s briefing that 1,542,929 people have now received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
Scotland recorded 27 deaths from
coronavirus and 581 positive tests in the past 24 hours.
It takes the death toll under this measure - of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days – to 7,111.
The Health Secretary added that 200,987 people have now tested positive in Scotland, up from 200,406 the previous day.
The daily test positivity rate is 3.3%, down from 3.7% the previous day.
There are 924 people in hospital confirmed to have the virus, down 43 in 24 hours, and 80 patients are in intensive care – down nine.
The Health Secretary added: “The past couple of months have seen really good progress, but we really don’t have any room for error right now.”