New PHE guidance for CEV patients offers no support when restrictions end

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NO LONGER RELEVANT AND IS NOT BEING UPDATED BUT HAS BEEN LEFT ON THE SITE FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY

This information is sourced from PHE, NHSE and RCGP learning:

PHE guidance for CEV patients as of 19th July advises:

• That they ‘may wish to think particularly carefully about additional precautions’
• That it is really important they have 2 doses of a Covid vaccine
• That if they have any concerns about what being immunosuppressed means for them they should contact their GP or specialist
• Directs CEV patients to discuss with their employers what measures have been implemented to keep them safe now that social distancing measures no longer apply in the workplace

Shielding reminder

• Shielding was paused on 1st April 2021 
• However patients who are CEV were advised to continue to take precautions and work from home if possible at that time
• The right to SSP due to being CEV ended on 1st April
• The furlough scheme remains available until 30 September if their employer agrees 
• GPs were advised to keep the shielding patient list up to date to guide vaccinations and in case shielding had to restart

CEV Groups

• This is the current CEV list is on the NHS Digital website
• The QCovid Risk Assessment Tool has been applied remotely to primary and secondary care data to centrally identify additional patients at high risk from Covid-19 (therefore GPs may not get the same results if they run the tool themselves)
• Decisions on which children are in the CEV list should be made by paediatricians
• Women with a history of gestational diabetes may or may not be classified as CEV depending on their overall QCovid score

Written by Dr Poppy Freeman

See also: Vaccine effectiveness and immunosuppression