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- COVID-19 vaccination programme: a central role for primary care
The article by Harden et al highlighted to us the important and admirable role that primary care is playing in the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. The authors mentioned the importance of targeting vulnerable groups, such as BAME communities, however we noted that individuals with learning disabilities were overlooked.
Whilst the impact of the pandemic has been devastating to the general population, individuals with learning disabilities have been among those hardest hit. A report by Public Health England identified that people with learning disabilities have a death rate 6.3 times higher than the general population. Additionally, the death rate for people aged 18-34 with learning disabilities was 30 times higher compared to their peers without learning disabilities.1 These statistics confirm our own experiences of working on COVID positive wards and caring for a high number of patients with learning disabilities.
Under the current vaccine roll out, care home residents and their carer’s are the highest priority group. Those with underlying health conditions were also identified as high risk, and therefore to receive the vaccine early. This group included individuals with Down’s syndrome and those with severe and profound learning disabilities.2 Whilst it is important that these group receive the vaccine quickly, this approach has been criticized as it overlooks many people with learning disabilities, who are also at...
Competing Interests: None declared.