The Highest Risk List will be retired at the end of next month, as the Scottish government says it is ‘highly unlikely’ anyone will be asked to shield again.

Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO) has told clinicians to stop adding people to the Highest Risk List – formerly known as the Shielding Register - ‘with immediate effect’.

The letter says Public Health Scotland data is now more accurate and better suited to identify people who should be prioritised for future vaccination, new treatments or additional advice.

The success of the vaccination programme and new treatments for covid-19 means many currently on the list are at no greater risk than the general population, the letter goes on to say.

An accompanying evidence review says clinicians should return to the pre-pandemic approach of individual clinical advice for those who may need to take extra precautions to keep themselves safe from other viruses and diseases.

Dr Gregor Smith CMO says he will write to all 177,000 people currently on the list to give reassurance and signpost them to ongoing support.

Dr John Harden, Deputy National Clinical Director, said:

“At the beginning of the pandemic we introduced shielding to protect the most vulnerable from a virus we knew little about. Clearly shielding did not come without impact, particularly for those who were socially isolated or feeling particularly anxious due to being labelled as ‘highest risk’.

“In March 2020, we used the information we had at that point to identify those with certain health conditions who we reasonably thought would be at higher risk of severe illness from Covid-19.

“Thankfully, we know a lot more about the virus now. Combined with our successful vaccination programme and the availability of new treatments, the clinical evidence clearly shows that the vast majority of people who have been on the Highest Risk List no longer need to consider themselves at any significantly higher risk.

He added that, for the few who are still so immunosuppressed that they cannot “mount a full immune response”, support remains in place:
“We will publish separate advice for this group and have put in place an identification process to be able to rapidly generate an accurate and current list of individuals to provide additional advice to, should it be needed in future.”

As of the 23^rd of April, almost 97% of eligible people on the highest risk list have been vaccinated at least once, with 90% having received a third or booster dose according to the evidence review.

People on the Highest Risk List have been told to follow the same covid-19 guidance as the rest of the population since summer of 2021, unless advised otherwise by their doctor.

Shielding was found to have a negative impact on both the physical and mental health those asked to do so, according to reports by Public Health Scotland from January 2021 and March 2022.

University of Glasgow researchers found the shielding strategy was ‘not as effective as hoped’ in preventing death, with people on the shielding list five times more likely than the general population to die of the virus.

Those with serious health conditions were found to be ‘significantly more anxious’ about covid-19 restrictions lifting last summer.

The Scottish government say its Distance Aware Scheme is in place for people who wish to show others they would like additional space and extra care while out in public.

 

Read more: Covid public inquiry remit published; Survey: Unprecedented anxiety of older Scots

 

 

Sign up to our bulletin for key health & social care updates straight to your inbox.