Ripon asthma sufferer backs calls for booster jab priority
Asthma UK says everyone who gets a flu jab should get the vaccine booster shot
Last updated 22nd Jun 2021
A Ripon man's backing calls for asthma sufferers to be bumped up the priority list for covid booster jabs if they are eligible for a free flu jab.
Asthma UK says everyone on the list for a free flu jab should be on the list when booster coronavirus vaccines are rolled out and that thousands of people with asthma missed out on getting their original Covid vaccine on time.
Based on a survey of more than 1,200 people with asthma, calculations by the charity suggest that around half of people with the condition failed to get their Covid vaccine on time.
Asthma UK estimated that 280,000 people deemed at increased risk of dying from Covid-19 due to asthma failed to receive their first Covid jab by the end of March when they should have been vaccinated, and more than 100,000 were still waiting two months later.
Ryan Stocks has suffered with asthma since he was 14 and was only offered his first covid jab six weeks ago. He said: "Mild asthma is just uncomfortable but anything more severe it is horrendous. It's literally like someone is putting a pillow on your face. You're breathing in all this oxygen around you and you're just not getting enough. Combine that with covid and it would be terribly frightening.
"It's not something you want to risk especially with these new variants. The fear of leaving my three children behind.. you do think about that.
"I was a little bit surprised when I didn't get contacted in March. You hear what groups are being seen to and you're just waiting for them to say you. It would make sense if you have a respiratory disease as it is a breathing problem that you are more vulnerable.
"If you catch something like covid and you've got slight symptoms that could become ten times worse instantly. So many people suffer with asthma and you could easily have a fatality with something like that. Whereas if they'd had the vaccine, it might not have been."
In February, the Government confirmed that people with asthma would be prioritised to receive their first Covid-19 vaccine if they had a shielding letter (priority group 4) or if they had ever been admitted to hospital for their asthma or ever taken three courses of oral steroid tablets during a three-month period (priority group 6).
But this led to widespread confusion, with some patients turned away by GP surgeries, and family doctors struggling to work out who was eligible based on their risk.
Asthma UK is now urging the Government to use the free flu jab list, which includes approximately 3.4 million people with asthma, arguing this would also reduce the burden on GPs.
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