There has been a lot of comments on this blog about private carers and private healthcare workers not been eligible for COVID-19 vaccination under the current NHS England vaccine priority system.
I have just discovered that government guidelines don’t distinguish between public or private employees. So if you are an active healthcare worker, working in the private sector, you are eligible for the vaccine. All you need to do is call your GP and book an appointment for a vaccination. I assume if your GP doesn’t know you very well you may need to provide some form proof of your type of employment.
I would expect the same rules to apply to carers of very vulnerable people with MS. So if you are a carer and look after vulnerable people with MS and are employed privately you also need to contact your GP to make an appointment to be vaccinated. You don’t want to be responsible for potentially infecting the person you care for with coronavirus.
It is important to stress that the whole purpose of the priority vaccination programme is to protect vulnerable people from COVID-19, to protect the NHS and to save lives. It is now obvious to me that this applies to both public and private sector workers.
If your GP refuses to offer you a vaccine I suggest reiterating the above and letting us know how it goes.
As an Mser with a partner who is my unpaid carer I have raised this issue with as many people as possible including this blog.
You do not make reference to unpaid carers in this article which make up a lot of carers in the UK and which are always overlooked.
Anyway
I had actually seen this confirmation earlier last week:
https://www.carersuk.org/news-and-campaigns/press-releases/carers-uk-welcomes-new-jcvi-advice-which-includes-unpaid-carers-in-the-vaccination-priority-list
I raised this with my GP but he said that he had not heard anything and also as they are not issuing vaccinations they would not be able to do anything and the best they could do was ensure that my partner had the correct code against his notes which show that he is my carer
I am concerned because assume that when you receive a text or letter asking you to attend an appointment that you are unable to discuss either your carer or the logistics of you getting to an appointment particularly if the appointment is some distance away or is very early
Anyway my main point here is that unpaid carers should not be overlooked and that all carers are now going to be included in the vaccination programme although GPs do not seem to be able to help with that
I agree this refers to carers unpaid or in private employment it is about protecting the extremely vulnerable.
Hackney private care sector is already saturated with covid.
Thanks for this, I am a social worker in private sector and I am due to return to work in March, and this has been a concern for me.
As a separate issue I waited 18months for nhs physio, I had two sessions on Dec, and she called today to say they’ve been redeployed and mycase closed 🙈thankfully I had already pursued private nuero physio, but such a terrible state of affairs for those without the means. Hopefully the vaccine that isn’t really a vaccine will help the situation incoming months
Vaccinate carers plus issue swift full pay for sick workers.
The gov.uk website says: “Other groups at higher risk, including those who are in receipt of a carer’s allowance, or those who are the main carer of an elderly or disabled person whose welfare may be at risk if the carer falls ill, should also be offered vaccination alongside these groups.” This is the penultimate paragraph of the section headed: “Persons with underlying health conditions” on the link to “government guidelines” on your blog emailed at 12:10 today (11/1/21).