Almost 300,000 people with Asthma in the UK who were deemed at increased risk from Covid-19 failed to receive their first vaccine dose on time, new estimates show.
Severe asthma sufferers were added to the government’s vaccine priority list back in February – but by the end of March, an estimated 280,000 people were waiting for a first jab when they should have otherwise been vaccinated.
Two months later, 113,800 individuals from this high-risk group had still yet to receive a vaccine dose, according to a survey commissioned by the charity Asthma UK.
As attention turns to the autumn booster programme, which may see the clinically vulnerable receive a third Covid vaccine dose, Asthma UK has warned that there needs to be a simple and effective booking system in place to ensure severe asthma suffers are not overlooked.
The charity said thousands of people with asthma eligible for inoculation in the early stages of the rollout were missed out because GPs could not find them on their systems using the criteria set out by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
Recommended
The JCVI’s guidance dictated that asthma sufferers who had ever been hospitalised or received three courses of oral steroid tablets over a three-month period should be prioritised for vaccination.
However, due to inconsistencies in the NHS’ computer systems, prescriptions for oral steroid tablets generated outside of GPs are unlikely to appear on a patient’s record and practices aren’t always informed that someone has been admitted to hospital, Asthma UK said.
This meant that many asthma sufferers didn’t get the call to receive their Covid vaccine when they should have done. Others were told by their GP practice that they didn’t fit the criteria for a priority vaccination.
According to Asthma UK’s survey, conducted by YouGov, an estimated 13,300 people were meanwhile told their GP had no record of a hospital admission due to asthma.
The charity also said that some GPs had given up on following national guidance and instead invited their patients with asthma to be vaccinated early.
To avoid similar mistakes being repeated for a potential future booster programme, Asthma UK has called on the government to “look at vaccinating everyone with asthma who needs it and is on the free flu jab list” – which includes approximately 3.4 million asthma sufferers.
“It is completely unacceptable that around half of people with asthma who are at higher risk of becoming very ill or even dying from Covid-19 have failed to get their vaccine at the right time despite being eligible because of issues with GP systems and search criteria,” said Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation.
“Asthma leaves people struggling for breath, at risk of potentially fatal asthma attacks and causes over 75,000 hospitalisations every year. It is time the government took asthma seriously.”
“With a Covid-19 booster vaccine rollout looking likely, the government must act.”
As part of Asthma UK’s research, a total of 10,147 adults were surveyed by YouGov on their experiences of the Covid vaccines. This included 1,238 people with asthma.
The survey found that 49 per cent of respondents who would have met the JCVI’s eligibility criteria did not receive a vaccine until April or May. This figure was then extrapolated to estimate that 280,000 asthma sufferers were not vaccinated on time.
UK news in pictures
Show all 50
1/50UK news in pictures
UK news in pictures
19 June 2021
England appeal LBW during day four of their Women’s International Test match against India at the Bristol County Ground
PA
UK news in pictures
18 June 2021
Scotland fans let off flares in Leicester Square after Scotland’s Euro 2020 match against England ended in a 0-0 draw
Getty
UK news in pictures
17 June 2021
Members of the Tootsie Rollers jazz band pose on the third day of the Royal Ascot horse racing meet
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
16 June 2021
A woman and child examine life-size sculptures of a herd of Asian elephants set up by the Elephant Family and The Real Elephant Collective to help educate the public on the elephants and the ways in which humans can better protect the planets biodiversity, in Green Park, central London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
15 June 2021
Hydrotherapists with Dixie, a seven-year-old Dachshund who is being treated for back problems common with the breed, in the hydrotherapy pool during a facility at Battersea Dogs and Cats Home’s in Battersea, London, to view their new hydrotherapy centre
PA
UK news in pictures
14 June 2021
Scotland’s David Marshall in the net after Czech Republic’s Patrik Schick scored their second goal at Hampden Park
Reuters
UK news in pictures
13 June 2021
Raheem Sterling celebrates with Harry Kane after scoring England’s first goal of the Euro 2021 tournament in a match against Croatia at Wembley
Reuters
UK news in pictures
12 June 2021
Oxfam campaigners wearing costumes depicting G7 leaders pose for photographers on Swanpool Beach near Falmouth, Cornwall
EPA
UK news in pictures
11 June 2021
Members of the Vaxinol team, who are commercial, industrial and residential cleaners specialising in disinfection and decontamination, use electrostatic spray systems to deep clean the Only Fools Bar in Liverpool
PA
UK news in pictures
10 June 2021
A woman walks her dogs as the incoming tide begins to wash away the heads of G7 leaders drawn in the sand by activists on the beach at Newquay, Cornwall
AP
UK news in pictures
9 June 2021
Adam Chamberlain, 45, general manager of Big Tree pub in Sheffield, has put up over 500 flags, taking 36 hours, in preparation for Euro 2020, which kicks off this weekend
Tom Maddick / SWNS
UK news in pictures
8 June 2021
REUTERS
UK news in pictures
7 June 2021
A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
6 June 2021
Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill
PA
UK news in pictures
5 June 2021
A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset
Nick Lucas/SWNS
UK news in pictures
4 June 2021
Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire
PA
UK news in pictures
3 June 2021
Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General’s annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London
PA
UK news in pictures
2 June 2021
Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei’s Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain
Reuters
UK news in pictures
1 June 2021
People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021
AP
UK news in pictures
31 May 2021
People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach
Reuters
UK news in pictures
30 May 2021
People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach
AP
UK news in pictures
29 May 2021
Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased
PA
UK news in pictures
28 May 2021
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London
REUTERS
UK news in pictures
27 May 2021
White Pelicans in the sunshine in St James’s Park, London
PA
UK news in pictures
26 May 2021
Boats are seen at Southsea Moorings in Portsmouth
Reuters
UK news in pictures
25 May 2021
York Glaziers Trust employees Kieran Muir (left) and Emily Price (right) remove a stained glass window panel at the start of a new five year, £5m project to conserve York Minster’s South East Transept and its medieval St Cuthbert Window
PA
UK news in pictures
24 May 2021
Dark rain clouds above an oast house at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent during one of the rainiest Mays on record, with the UK seeing 131 per cent of the usual month’s rainfall already
PA
UK news in pictures
23 May 2021
The Premier League trophy with the Manchester City club colour ribbons on, at Etihad Stadium, prior to the last Premier League match of the season. City will finally pick up the trophy after they won the league on 11 May
Getty
UK news in pictures
22 May 2021
Gary Kenny lifts the Buildbase FA Vase Trophy after Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase Final against Binfield at Wembley Stadium
Getty
UK news in pictures
21 May 2021
A family buffeted by the wind whilst crossing the the Millennium Bridge in London, with wind and rain forecast to ravage the UK on the first Friday that people have been allowed to meet in large groups outside in England
PA
UK news in pictures
20 May 2021
Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit
Getty Images
UK news in pictures
18 May 2021
An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London
PA
UK news in pictures
17 May 2021
Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England
PA
UK news in pictures
16 May 2021
Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another
PA
UK news in pictures
15 May 2021
Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London
AFP via Getty
UK news in pictures
14 May 2021
Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England
PA
UK news in pictures
13 May 2021
A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan.
PA
UK news in pictures
12 May 2021
A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London
Getty
UK news in pictures
11 May 2021
The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed
PA
UK news in pictures
10 May 2021
Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on London’s Southbank
PA
UK news in pictures
9 May 2021
People mill around St. Michael’s tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset
PA
UK news in pictures
8 May 2021
Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales
PA
UK news in pictures
6 May 2021
A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart
PA
UK news in pictures
5 May 2021
Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail
PA
UK news in pictures
4 May 2021
Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys’ Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London
PA
UK news in pictures
3 May 2021
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6
PA
UK news in pictures
2 May 2021
Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Women’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final
AFP/Getty
UK news in pictures
1 May 2020
Demonstrators during a march through London during a ‘Kill the Bill’ protest
Angela Christofilou
UK news in pictures
30 April 2021
Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease
PA
UK news in pictures
29 April 2021
Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum’s National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance
PA
Dr Andy Whittamore, a practising GP and clinical lead at Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, said it was “clear” that the current system is “not working for GPs or people with asthma”.
“GP surgeries do not want to be faced with the same difficulties again later this year when valuable lessons can be learnt and acted on now,” he said.
“Keeping it simple is key. There is the chance now for the government to learn the lessons from last time around and get a simple and effective system in place ready for any booster campaign so that no one with asthma at higher risk from coronavirus misses out on getting the added protection they might need.”
FOLLOW us ON GOOGLE NEWS
Read original article here
The post Thousands of asthma sufferers failed to receive Covid vaccine on time, estimates show appeared first on techcodex.com.