Dr Charles Shepherd, Hon Medical Adviser, ME Association
This is a post about Covid vaccine priority for people with ME/CFS and their inclusion in group 6 of the JCVI priority list.
As we explained yesterday on our Facebook page, we are still waiting for a response from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to two emails asking for confirmation that people with ME/CFS are included in group 6 of the JCVI Covid vaccine priority list.
We have made it clear to both the Chief Medical Officer (Professor Chris Whitty) and the JCVI that this is now a matter of urgency.
This is because some people with ME/CFS are now being told by their doctors that they are in group 6.
However, others are being told that ME/CFS is not included in group 6 and that they will therefore have to wait until they are invited by age.
This uncertainty and confusion is unacceptable and could be quickly solved by a statement from the JCVI.
In the meantime we have produced a letter (below) that people can send to their GP to explain why people with ME/CFS should be included in group 6.
The relevant information about group 6 can be found on pages 9 – 10 in Chapter 14a of what is known as the NHS ‘Green Book’.
“Today I got put down for category 6 after I emailed them the ME Association Vaccine Leaflet, with a quote from Dr Charles Shepherd regarding the Green Paper wording.
A recent example of an email to us
My GP surgery is now updating all other registered patients of the surgery who are diagnosed with ME/CFS. I had to fight for it taking two days of email exchange but it was worth it.”
Please note that a number of people have now made use of the supportive information that is referred to in this MEA letter and have been placed in the group 6 category as a result.
A LETTER FOR YOUR OWN GP
We have produced a letter that you can either email or post to your GP surgery. It's available HERE as a downloadable Word document. Please modify it to suit your own circumstances.
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