Four in 10 clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) people are ignoring official government guidance and continuing to shield to guard against contracting Covid.
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that while 81% of CEV people knew the government had paused shielding for CEV people from 1 April, 45% said they were continuing to shield when asked between 17 and 22 May 2021.
The data also showed 92% of CEV people, who were aware that previous government advice to shield had paused, reported completely or quite closely following the new precautionary guidance given.
There are 3.7 million clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) people in England and 84% of those surveyed reported having had two doses of the vaccine.
Commenting on the data, Tim Gibbs, head of the public services analysis team at the ONS, said: “Our results today show almost half of those identified as clinically extremely vulnerable reported continuing to shield despite government advice to do so being paused.
“This isn’t surprising considering the higher risk Covid-19 poses for this group.
“Given this, I’m pleased to see the majority of those in this group have had two doses of the vaccine, offering them protection from the virus.”
