How do you feel about shielding coming ... - Leukaemia Support
How do you feel about shielding coming to an end?
Please select one:
For context in England: Shielding is due to end of 31st March 2021 - source: Gov.uk Roadmap out of lockdown guidance.
Good ask! I should value having anti body spike and T cell tests so i know better how to manage meeting people.
I'm in NI and I think our executive will be making a call on it next week. Is it not possible that the gov may suggest people continue it if they are anxious? Personally mixed about it, will be getting my second AZ next week but still not so much clear data regarding efficacy so I guess care mixing with u vaccinated groups is necessary. It must be said though the UK are doing exceptionally well with the vaccine rollout.
A part of me says I am looking forward to being able to go out, do my own shopping and maybe put a dress on (as compared to gardening scruffs) and go out for meal with much missed friends. Another part I am terrified of getting close to people and taking risks. I long to go on holiday but shall be a nervous wreck getting on any form of transport.
I do not feel that they should be ending it just yet. Most, if not all of us are still short of our second dose of vaccine and the news yesterday about the efficacy of Pfizer in blood cancer patients make it imperative that we should be able to know our response to any vaccine. It is becoming increasingly clear that even the shielding group should be subdivided.
I agree. The shielding should really stop AFTER, or two weeks after, we have all received our second vaccination dose.
Dear Nicole I’m very worried about only 8% of blood cancer sufferers achieving antibodies after one vaccine. 1. Are there plans for shielding to continue for us? 2. Will our second vaccines be brought forward? 3. Will we need a third dose, potentially? 4. Can we get an antibody test after the second vaccine? Please reply if you can!
I agree, there are so many questions that need addressing by the blood cancer community before our anxieties can even start to lessen. I guess we are just going to have to be patient for longer. In the meantime I hope somebody is listening to the concerns being expressed.
Hi - the blood cancer alliance, a coalition of blood cancer charities - has written to the JCVI to ask some key questions. You can read the letter here - twitter.com/BloodCancerA/st... (they are still awaiting a reply)
I've heard that our shelding is likely to be continued until the end of September while they do more tests to ascertain the effectiveness of Pfizer and they may be bringing our Pfizer jabs forward from the 12 weeks originally planned.
Where did you hear that from maggisylvie?
The BCA has asked the JCVI to examine whether reducing the time between doses of the Pfizer vaccine for this patient group, to the 21 days that the vaccine manufacturer recommends, will give greater protection for this group of immunocompromised patients.
The BCA is also calling on the Government to establish investment in relevant clinical research to understand vaccine efficacy in blood cancer patients more fully, both after a single dose, and after full vaccination is complete. The BCA is also asking that shielding guidance be extended while work is undertaken to understand how effective the vaccine is for the immunocompromised in the longer term. People who are clinically extremely vulnerable remain eligible for the duration of the scheme (currently until 30 September 2021) and we urge employers, even after the end of shielding guidance, to continue furloughing staff who cannot work safely away from home and who cannot work from home.
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