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Important information about clinically extremely vulnerable children and young people

Clinical studies have shown that children and young people, including those originally considered to be clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV), are at very low risk of serious illness if they catch the virus. The UK Clinical Review Panel has recommended that all children and young people under the age of 18 should no longer be considered CEV and should be removed from the Shielded Patient List, the national database of people considered clinically extremely vulnerable.

All children and young people should continue to follow the same guidance as everyone else, which can be found at www.gov.uk/coronavirus. For a very few individual children specific clinical advice may be given and this should continue to be followed.

The Department for Health and Social Care have developed an FAQ that can be accessed online.

A letter has been sent by the Department of Health and Social Care to the families of children and young people who were previously classified as CEV informing them of this change. Although shielding was paused on 1 April 2021, we know that for some this may be a significant change and they may be anxious about returning to face-to-face education for the Autumn Term. Whilst attendance is mandatory, we recommend that leaders in education work collaboratively with families to reassure them and to help their child return to their everyday activities. Discussions should have a collaborative approach, focusing on the welfare of the child or young person and responding to the concerns of the parent, carer or young person.