My wife has got a real dilemma now. She has diabetes and is overweight and today she has received an NHS letter telling her she is classed as high risk so she should be shielding until the 31st March. This is the first time she has been told to shield.
She is a support worker so would have to go on the sick. She had the vaccine back in January(1st jab, second is 14th April), she got it because she was a key worker, not because she is vulnerable. However, this letter says they hope to be able to offer her a vaccine very soon, so that implies they aren't aware she has already had it. But it also says she should be shielding whether she has had the vaccine or not, even if she has had the second dose.
She is now panicking like mad and unsure of what to do. She is still in her probation period at work so while they can't sack her for having to shield, they can get rid of her at any point. This letter does state though that this is advice and she's not required to shield by law.
To me this just seems like box ticking from the NHS and why the fuck are they writing to her now and not 12 months ago?! Over the last year she's been working, we went on a few trips to Blackpool last summer, we've been following the rules obviously but still been out to shops regularly when necessary and she has been working week in week out since last autumn. She has been careful but she hasn't let it worry her too much, now she's bleeding petrified.
The thing is if we're gonna vaccinate people and then just tell them to keep shielding indefinitely then what is the point of the vaccines? She might as well just stay in forever! She is at far less risk now than she has been at any point since the start of this.
Has anybody else found themselves in a similar situation? Are the NHS just being over cautious and covering themselves? If she hadn't been vaccinated I'd understand it but surely at some point people have got to be allowed to get on with their lives?