*THREAD* We have been urging the government for clarity on which priority group people with asthma will be in for the COVID vaccine and we have now been given further information.

If you were sent a shielding letter, you will be in group four. If you have ever had an emergency hospital admission for your asthma, or ever been prescribed three courses of steroid tablets in a three-month period you will fall into priority group six.

If you do not fall into either of these groups and are under the age of 50, you will be vaccinated after the first nine priority groups.

We hope this makes things clearer for everyone now and that by sharing this information, people with asthma will be able to recognise from the criteria if they are eligible to have the vaccine in group six.

If you have any concerns about what this means for you, we’d encourage you to contact your GP.
The decision on this criteria has been made according to the JCVI’s current focus to prioritise giving the vaccine to those most at risk of dying from getting COVID.

We hope that those not in the first nine groups will get their vaccinations as soon as possible. You can read more about the new information, the criteria and the priority groups in this new blog from Dr Andrew Whittamore, our Clinical Lead: http://bit.ly/3plVHi1