Additional Risk Factors Used to Identify People at High Risk of COVID-19
New Factors to Determine COVID-19 risk
Additional people to be identified as Clinically Extremely Vulnerable
On 16 February 2021, additional people who may be at high risk from COVID-19 were identified using a risk score based on a wide range of factors that predict a more severe course of COVID-19 or an increased likelihood of getting COVID-19.
The additional factors used to calculate your risk include ethnicity, BMI and where you live. You can see a more detailed list of risk factors used here.
A special online tool led by Oxford University is being used to calculate the risk score called QCovid®. (It is currently only accessible by healthcare professionals).
The priority now is to identify those who are most vulnerable, to prioritise them for vaccination and provide appropriate advice to help individuals identified to protect themselves. Around 1.7 million additional adults are expected to be identified as Clinically Extremely Vulnerable and 800,000 of those will need to be prioritised to receive a vaccine as a priority. If this affects you, you will receive a letter advising you and what you need to do.
Correction 17 Feb 2020: 1.7 million additional people are expected to be added to the CEV group; rather more than the 800,000 we said last night!