Everyone on the GP Learning Disability Register can now access a Covid-19 vaccination

National Care Group welcomes the incredible news that all people with a learning disability who are on the GP Learning Disability Register can now get access to the coronavirus vaccine.

The announcement, which came in just yesterday (24 February 2021), is that the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised the government to invite all people on the GP Learning Disability Register for their Covid-19 vaccination.

Helen Whately, Care Minister, said “Following the JCVI’s updated advice and to make this process simpler and faster, we will be inviting everyone for vaccination who is on the Register. This will mean those who are at a higher risk from the virus can get the protection they need.”

This is great news for many of the people we support who will now be invited for their vaccination as part of priority group 6, who are currently receiving their vaccines - this includes all individuals between ages 16-64 with underlying health conditions which puts them at higher risk.

The decision has come following analysis by Public Health England which found that people registered with their GP as having a learning disability, who tend to be those at the more severe end, are at increased risk of becoming seriously ill and dying from Covid.

This news also triggered a high-profile campaign effort to lobby government including pleas from Mencap and radio broadcaster, Jo Whiley, for people such as her sister who has a rare genetic syndrome and lives in residential care, to be vaccinated as quickly as possible.