Extra 7,500 Donaster residents expected to be on updated Covid shielding list

More than 7,000 people across Doncaster have been asked or will be asked to shield themselves against Covid-19 following a change of guidance issued by Government.
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Doncaster Council’s director of public health, Dr Rupert Suckling, said 4,000 extra people had been asked to shield by their GP who were not asked to in the first wave of the pandemic.

Dr Suckling said he expects a further 3,500 people in the coming weeks. Those asked to shield are told to do this until March 31.

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Those asked to shield are people deemed most at risk of becoming seriously ill from coronavirus and means they should not leave their homes and should minimise all face-to-face contact.

Dr Rupert Suckling.Dr Rupert Suckling.
Dr Rupert Suckling.

Those on the new shielding list will jump to a higher vaccine priority group.

Dr Suckling said: “This is based not only on their health conditions, but on their ethnicity and deprivation of places that they live.

“In Doncaster, that list is just under 4,000 people under the age of 70 and we’ve had those people added to the list.

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“We expected another 3,500 people to be added to the list of people over the age of 70. So those over the age of 70 will already have been invited for a vaccine but those under the age of 70 are now part of what’s called priority group for so they will be invited sooner.

“There will be people in the workforce who weren’t on the list and will have to shield so employers will have to respond to that accordingly, including our own council.”