Hello everyone,
Warning: rant below!
I just accidentally found an NHS document online from 23 December 2021 which says that 5-11 year olds living with an immunocompromised person, can get a covid vaccine. I am raging. I have Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL), my 9 year old son had Covid in January which he picked up at school. I am still shielding, my 9 year old was relatively ill with it, no hospital or anything like that but he had 10 days in bed and a fever for 5 of those. The worst bit though was that I was the only one caring for him and due to my Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) I had to put him in isolation in one room and only go into him briefly each day with an FFP3 mask on, it was a really difficult time for us… and now to discover he could have been vaccinated!! I can’t believe (actually I totally can) that the NHS didn’t tell us… yet another mess up.
Please can someone at Blood Cancer UK confirm that my son is indeed eligible for a vaccine now? @GemmaBloodCancerUK, do you know?
Thank you,
Hope everyone is doing ok,
Firefly
Hi@Firefly,I can understand your rage and rant and how difficult it was for you and your son ,and I’m really sorry to hear ,I hope he is recovered well.
.If its any help I received the NHS letter re vaccs for children the other week,I was surprised as Im on watch and wait but they obviously got wind of it but i dont have my Grandchildren
near so it doesn’t apply for me just now.So the point is the vaccines should still be available for you and
Surprised you didnt get a letter ,mind you this is NHS Scotland.There will be a number to ring NHS inform England or ask at your GP practice.?I am sure @Gemma will know and others on the forum .
I love a rant !
All the best
Bannanacake
Hi @Firefly you are fully entitled to a rant and when your son caught Covid it must have been a really stressful, scary, isolating time for you both and your instinct must have been to give him a great big hug, but you couldn’t (if 9yr old boys still hug ???)
Covid can be nasty and take a long while to get over.
Look after yourselves and spoil yourselves you both handled the situation brilliantly.
Give @GemmaBloodCancerUK time to respond to you.
Hi @Firefly, we’re sorry to hear that your son had covid in Jan and how ill he was during it. We can only image the difficulty supporting him whist he was going through this isolating in his room by himself. We understand your frustrations at now knowing about young children living with immunosuppressed people being entitled to vaccine.
This is the information for children aged 5 to 11 who have blood cancer, or live with someone who does: first and second doses
On 22 December 2021, the JCVI recommended that children aged 5 to 11 who are in a clinical risk group, or who are a household contact of someone immunosuppressed, should be offered a primary course of vaccination. The course would be two 10-microgram doses of the Pfizer vaccine (a third of the adult dose), with a gap of 8 weeks between the first and second doses. The MHRA (which approves medical treatments in the UK) has approved this reduced dose after finding that it is safe and effective in children.
This means that children aged 5 to 11 who have blood cancer, and children aged 5 to 11 who live with someone with blood cancer, could get vaccinated. This should help minimise the risk of transmission to people with blood cancer.
The Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group (CCLG) has more information on which children with cancer are in a clinical risk group.
How children aged 5 to 11 can get vaccinated
All four countries of the UK are expected to start inviting eligible children for vaccination by the end of January 2022. Here’s what we know about how your child may be invited - we will update this information as we learn more:
- In England : GPs and hospital consultants have been asked to search their records for children who are eligible for the vaccine. You should then receive a letter or text explaining how to book an appointment. This is likely to be at a GP-led local clinic or hospital hub that is approved to vaccinate children.
- In Scotland : NHS Scotland will contact you to offer your child an appointment from late January.
- In Wales : If the child is in a clinical risk group themselves, they should be invited by their Health Board. If the child is a household contact of someone immunosuppressed, you can request their vaccine online.
- In Northern Ireland : Your GP will write to you to offer an appointment at a Trust vaccination site. Appointments will be offered from late January. Children in special schools may be able to get the vaccination from the school nursing team on site.
If we can be of any further support, our Support Services Team are always here: Blood cancer information and support by phone and email | Blood Cancer UK.
Bav
Hi Bannanacake, thanks so much for your understanding, it means a lot, sending you a hug! Firefly x
Thanks so much @Erica, this 9 year old still loves a hug thankfully, we shall see how long that lasts!? He’s fully recovered now thank you but was exhausted for a few weeks after. Relieved to have got through it.
Take care,
Firefly x
Hi @Bav.BloodCancerUK and thank you!
Hi @Firefly, a hug back, you are welcome .
Hope things work out for you.
Stay safe
Bannanacake
Your frustration is totally understandable. Have you managed to book your son in for his vaccination? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on the support line if you want to talk this through further.
Thanks Alice. I rang my GP surgery on Monday morning and was told someone would check and get back to me. No word yet. Here’s hoping!
Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have problems with this as we would be happy to support you where we can.
Thank you very much. I just called to follow up, apparently a GP is checking it out. I will give them a couple of days and then I might need your help! Thanks again.
Dear @Firefly, I very much appreciate the need to rant. Your son was indeed entitled to a COVID vaccine from December 2021:
Who can get the covid vaccine and how many doses?
As of 22 December 2021, the JCVI recommends that:
- Children aged 5 to 11 who have blood cancer should have two vaccine doses (at a reduced dose)
- Children aged 5 to 11 who live with someone immunosuppressed should have two vaccine doses (at a reduced dose)
- People aged 12 and above who live with someone immunosuppressed should have three vaccine doses (two primary doses and one booster)
- People aged 12 and above who have blood cancer should have four vaccine doses (three primary doses and one booster
We included this on our webpages How to book a covid vaccine if you have blood cancer | Blood Cancer UK but I am sorry to hear that this wasn’t communicated effectively from the NHS guidance.
I do hope this helps and do call in if you need further support.
Gemma
Thank you! Today my GP surgery texted me to collect “a letter”, when I did so it was a letter “to whom it may concern” (presumably the local vaccination centre!?) to say that my son can have a covid jab … bit ridiculous because as we now all know, any child his age can have one in a few weeks (and because he recently had covid, he has to wait till then anyway). Surgery only issued the letter because I asked and it’s now over 2 months after they should have notified me… and I am still slightly bitter that he could have avoided getting covid if they’d told me… suppose I should be grateful that we are all ok what with other things going on in the world and also hopefully not too many others ended up in our situation. So that’s the update, thanks as always for your support.
Firefly
Hi @Firefly thanks for the update and what can I say.
The main thing is that you are all OK.
Look after yourselves