Charity urges government to prioritise COVID vaccine to 'everyone with a learning disability'

The charity Mencap is calling on the government to prioritise COVID-19 vaccinations to everyone with a learning disability after statistics revealed more than 30,000 disabled people died with coronavirus in England last year.

Figures published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) stated of the 50,888 deaths from January 24 to November 20, 59.5 per cent were people who were disabled, and the risk of death was three times higher for those with severe disabilities.

The statistics show the risk of death involving COVID-19 was more than three times greater for 'more-disabled men' and nearly two times greater for 'less-disabled men'. This was in comparison with non-disabled men.

The risk of death among women was three and a half times greater for ‘more-disabled women’ and two times greater for ‘less-disabled women’, compared with non-disabled women.

For people with a medically diagnosed learning disability, the risk of death involving COVID-19 was nearly four times greater for both men and women compared with people who did not have a learning disability.

Dan Scorer, head of policy at the learning disability charity Mencap, is urgently calling for everyone with a learning disability to be prioritised in at least group 6 on the vaccine priority list and says it is unacceptable that a group of people who already face “serious barriers to accessing healthcare” are being left out and “their lives put in danger”.

Mr Scorer said: “[The] ONS data yet again highlights the huge differences in the COVID death rate for people with a learning disability, with men dying at three and a half times the rate of men in the general population. For women it was as much as four times higher.

"The government must step up and address this scandal and prioritise everyone with a learning disability for the vaccine.

“Currently people with a severe or profound learning disability are in group 6 on the vaccine priority list, and adults with Down’s syndrome are in group 4. Yet people with a mild or moderate learning disability are not being prioritised, unless due to their age or clinical vulnerability.”

Professor Wei Shen Lim, COVID-19 chair for JCVI which advises the government on the priority list, said: “The JCVI’s advice on COVID-19 vaccine prioritisation was developed with the aim of preventing as many deaths as possible.

“As the single greatest risk of death from COVID-19 is older age, prioritisation is primarily based on age.”