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COVID-19 vaccine: Information for patients added to the Shielded Patient List

The COVID-19 vaccination programme is well underway in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. We have already vaccinated over 180,000 people locally, and continue to vaccinate thousands more every week.

We understand that people are keen to get the vaccine, especially if they live with a health condition. Please use this page to help you answer your questions about the vaccine roll-out to people who have recently been added to the Shielded Patient List.

If you have not recently been added to the Shielded Patient List, please refer to our main FAQ page here.

You have now been added to the Shielded Patient List because you have been identified through the COVID-19 Population Risk Assessment as potentially being at high risk of serious illness if you catch the virus.

The COVID-19 Population Risk Assessment is based on a model known as QCovid, which was developed by a group of researchers led by the University of Oxford. It combines data on a number of factors to estimate the risk of catching and then being hospitalised by or dying from Coronavirus. The model has been used nationally by NHS Digital to calculate risk assessments for a group of individuals in England who are likely to be at high risk, based on patient data that is held centrally.

More information on the COVID-19 Population Risk Assessment can be found on the NHS Digital website.

If you have been added to the Shielded Patient List, the NHS will contact you to offer you the vaccine as soon as appointments become available. The NHS may contact you via text message, letter or a phone call to offer you an appointment.

If you think you should be added to the Shielded Patient List you should speak to your GP. They will be able to discuss your circumstances with you and, if appropriate, add you to the Shielded Patient List.

You can request to be removed from the Shielded Patient List by asking your GP. They will add a low or moderate flag (note) to your record and you will be removed from the Shielded Patient List within a short period of time (up to two weeks).

You are strongly encouraged to follow shielding guidance if you have been identified as being at high risk of severe outcomes from COVID-19 infection.

This information is correct as at: 18/02/2021