Vaccine Eligibility – What You Need to Know (& Why You Should Tell Your GP)

It came as something of a significant but unexpected surprise to us at Wednesday’s Child last week, to see that eating disorders are now being specifically mentioned as a category requiring recognition in the vaccine rollout.

Equally Well UK, an initiative very much channelling health equality and seeking to identify areas in need of change, has now released a useful resource for those affected by ‘severe mental illness’.

Within this, you’ll find the following reference: “…We want to ensure that no one is left behind, so if you have a severe mental illness, including an eating disorder or if you’ve been given a personality disorder diagnosis, please get in touch with your GP if you have not heard from them by the end of February.”

Equally Well points out that the vaccine rollout for those with severe mental illness began in mid February as part of group 6.

Before now, specific references about eating disorders haven’t been easy to access or clarify, so now it seems from our perspective that those suffering from the illness are very much being classed as eligible.

Whilst we wouldn’t encourage you to get straight on the phone to your GP surgery just yet, you may want to follow the Equally Well guidance at the end of the month, and point them to this resource, just in case they haven’t yet been informed themselves.

You can take a read here: https://equallywell.co.uk/covid-19-vaccine_severe-mental-illness/

In the meantime, do get in touch if you want to tell us about your experience.