THERE are fears adults with mild or moderate learning disabilities may still miss out on having the coronavirus vaccine on time.

Thousands whose names are on GP registers in the Swindon, Wiltshire and Bath and North East Somerset CCG area will be prioritised for a jab following new advice.

The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation said on Wednesday they should be placed alongside others in priority group six – people aged 16-64 with underlying health conditions.

But support worker and trustee Mike Bowden, who works at Swindon social enterprise Phoenix Enterprises, says this should have happened a lot sooner – and fears people not on the register will fall through the gaps.

Mr Bowden said: “We’re really pleased and we welcome the announcement but why should it have taken this long? It poses questions as to why it hasn’t happened sooner. We just want what’s best for our service users and advocate for them.

Some adults with severe learning disabilities have already received their first jab, but disability campaigners and charities had warned this left many with less severe conditions at risk from the virus.

Mr Bowden added said: “We look after up to 60 adults across lots of days in the week so we give them a voice. One of our service users is 22 with an assessed reading age of around 10 years old. She told us she had met up with her best friend as she has been asked to look after her dog. This was after she has popped round to see her parents and other relatives. 

“She is at great risk to herself and a potential super spreader of this awful virus. They have no malice and are not being difficult – they just don’t understand.”

A report back in November by the government found people with learning disabilities had a Covid death rate six times higher than the rest of the population.

Mr Bowden said: “Some people with learning disabilities have underlying health conditions so may have already had the jab but there is still a huge gap of people who may be unprotected for weeks to come.” 

“The question is how do you get on the learning disability register as I hadn’t heard of it before now."

There were among 260,000 adults with learning disabilities on GP lists across England – with 28,139 in the South West – although the true figure is thought to be much higher.

Analysis of Office for National Statistics figures by charity Mencap suggests there are 951,000 across England – with 97,000 in the South West.

Mr Bowden added: “It would be sad if we found some missed out. How are they going to detect how disabled you are, if you’re classed as mild or moderate and if you go on this register, will you actually get the jab?

“It will be down to the individual surgeries to see who is on this register as the centres vaccinate based on the information on their lists.”

A spokesman for the NHS Foundation Trust said “Everyone with a learning disability is being offered a Covid vaccine. There has been a national change last week which is all very good news. 

“So mild and moderate disabilities are now covered and efforts are being made to make sure that this group of people can be vaccinated in a way that works for them.”