A Harrogate man has spoken of his despair at being one of 1.7 million people told to shield again for another five weeks.
Scott Lambert, 35, has a rare autoimmune disease called behçets syndrome and is classed as clinically extremely vulnerable.
He received an email from the government yesterday advising him to extend shielding from February 21 to March 31.
Mr Lambert told the Stray Ferret he was vaccinated three weeks ago at Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground and, after spending much of last year shielding and all of this year, thought the end was in sight.
So to receive the news out of the blue yesterday was “beyond unfair”, he said, adding:
“We were told the vaccine was the way out of this. Yet a week before the review date we have been told it’s a further five weeks minimum.
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He said shielders were “the forgotten people in the pandemic” and he wanted to highlight their situation. He added:
“We have been locked away far more than many people over the coronavirus pandemic. It’s taking a huge strain on each and every one of us.
“Being a shielder isn’t lockdown. It’s next level lockdown. You’re constantly thinking of how transmission could occur and make you seriously ill. Yet an email is all the government felt was enough to put us through this for a further five weeks.
“We thought the vaccine was the way out. The government achieved the target of vaccinating all of the clinically extremely vulnerable and we thought we would be able to rejoin society in the new normal.”
Mr Lambert, who lives in Jennyfields, said the showground vaccination programme was well run. He added a Facebook group called Shielders Support had been extremely helpful to local shielders. But yesterday’s news came as a “shock to all”.
The email urged him to “stay at home as much as possible”, adding:
“Whilst the national lockdown has been effective and cases of covid are now falling, the levels of infection in the community remain high and the virus continues to pose a high risk to people across the country.
“The risk remains particularly high for those considered clinically extremely vulnerable. Therefore, the government strongly advises you to continue to follow the shielding measures that were introduced in January to help you protect yourself.”
