Shielding list for people most vulnerable to Covid to end on May 31

The Scottish Government plans to formally end its list of people at the highest risk from coronavirus, previously known as the shielding list, on May 31.

Clinicians say that for the majority of people on the list there is now no greater risk of hospitalisation and death than the general public due to the impact of vaccination.

For some time, the clinical advice has been for those on the Highest Risk List to follow the same guidance as everyone else in Scotland.

The Government says support is still available for those who are immunosuppressed.

At the start of the pandemic, about 120,000 people in Scotland were in the shielding category and advised to minimise all interactions with other people, including by remaining at home.

Dr John Harden, deputy national clinical director, said: “At the beginning of the pandemic we introduced shielding to protect the most vulnerable from a virus we knew little about.

“Clearly, shielding did not come without impact, particularly for those who were socially isolated or feeling particularly anxious due to being labelled at highest risk.

“In March 2020, we used the information we had at that point to identify those with certain health conditions who we reasonably thought would be at higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19. Thankfully, we know a lot more about the virus now.”

He continued: “Combined with our successful vaccination programme and the availability of new treatments, means the clinical evidence clearly shows that the vast majority of people who have been on the Highest Risk List no longer need to consider themselves at any significantly higher risk.

“Support is still in place for the small number of immunosuppressed people who are unable to mount a full immune response due to their condition or ongoing treatment.

“We will publish separate advice for this group and have put in place an identification process to be able to rapidly generate an accurate and current list of individuals to provide additional advice to, should it be needed in future.”