The clinically vulnerable people furious at the government for removal of Covid restrictions – and those who aren’t

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‘The government has left us to the wolves’.

That’s the view of one worried mum, who fears the impact of the end of Covid-19 restrictions. Boris Johnson’s announcement that all Covid measures should end – including self isolation after positive tests and free mass testing – caused outcry among people with health conditions.

READ MORE “Our children could die”: Parents of vulnerable children left terrified as Covid isolation rules scrapped

Those who fall into the vulnerable category say this is yet another example of the country’s leaders ‘forgetting’ about them.

Others say there are now more important things to worry about, like the rising cost of living.

Many are stuck in limbo. They don’t want people’s lives to be limited by Covid rules, but desperately need some form of protection if they too are to enjoy a return to normality safely – something the government has ‘forgotten’, they claim.

‘It will be the vulnerable that pay the price’

Victoria Currie is the mother of five-year-old Arthur, a little boy from Bacup suffering a rare form of kidney cancer.

His parents have been forced to keep him off school, over fears of him catching Covid-19 while going through round after round of gruelling treatment compromising his immune system.

What do you think of the end of Covid restrictions? Let us know in the comments

The prospect of being a mother to a vulnerable child while restrictions are ending is ‘terrifying’, Victoria tells the Manchester Evening News.



VIctoria and Dominic are parents to little Arthur, who suffers a rare form of cancer – they are ‘terrified’ at the rollback of Covid restrictions

“It feels like the government has left us ‘weak, vulnerable, or deemed unworthy’ to the wolves,” she explains.

“I understand life has to go on, but I also believe sometimes we need to learn to live differently. It’s not difficult to wear masks whilst shopping.

“With the way things are in this country at the moment, people can’t afford the time off sick or even keep a sick child off school. So the virus will always now be there. It will ebb and flow, and it will be the the vulnerable that pay the price.”



Arthur was diagnosed with cancer in 2020 when he was three and a half

But what is most ‘isolating, exhausting and disheartening’, says Victoria, is to see those who excuse Covid-19 deaths as collateral damage in the return to normality.

“It’s always awful to see people stating ‘people die everyday’ or ‘the flu kills X amount of people a year and we don’t have restrictions for that’.

“Yet they are not talking about their own. They are thinking of people they have no real concern or connection with, the ones they don’t personally know…. people like us, people like my son.

“We are the ones that should suffer because a night out is worth a person’s life.”

‘We need to go back to normal’

But for Doug Futers, a regular visitor to Greater Manchester, the rollback is a welcome relief.

Although he’s classed as vulnerable and hopes to get another booster soon the 63-year-old says ‘we can’t carry on like this’.

“When the first lockdown happened, I was apprehensive about catching Covid-19. Any slight cold and I thought I’d got Covid, it really made me worry.



Doug Futers is among the group of people, classed as vulnerable, who say the rollback of some restrictions is the right move

“But since the vaccinations have become available, I’ve been less worried and more willing to go out.

“I think the free testing should continue, that doesn’t cost people anything and it’s not oppressive.

“But not being able to go places in the UK without a vaccine passport, and the complications and expense of going abroad – because you have to pay for testing – I think that we need to go back to normal so we can start living our lives again.”

Like Doug, Christina Barker, from Trafford, is desperate to ‘get her life back’.

Christina already had an underlying condition, but became increasingly chronically ill during lockdown, thought to be a result of stress.

Before the Omicron wave early this year, the former teacher was enjoying her first forays back in society – going out to restaurants, seeing friends and family – with the added assurance of measures such as mandated mask-wearing and free testing.

Now, with the disappearance of all the rules, Christina says she is being forced to limit her activities once again, after shielding through much of the pandemic already.

No one is asking to go back into lockdown, but there is now ‘no safe space’ for vulnerable people, she says.



Christina Barker says that the lives of those who are healthy are being put at a premium, and those who are vulnerable are being ‘abandoned’

“Before I became ill I would travel, I’ve got a busy social life – but because people like me have been hidden away during lockdown, people think we’re all 90 years old and stay in the house all the time,” Christina, 55, tells the Manchester Evening News .

“But if someone looked at me, they would never know I was chronically ill.

“I want my life back, but I accept I will be limited, I won’t be able to do the things I did when I was younger.

“Equally, I don’t want lockdown, and I don’t want people to have to wear masks all the time, but I want there to be some compromise so we can live safely.”

‘I can’t afford to worry about Covid-19 restrictions anymore’

The end of Covid-19 rules and personal finances are inextricably linked.

Not only are there concerns that people, who may be infected, cannot afford to isolate without support packages now coming to a halt, charging for tests will also disproportionately affect those on the breadline, say advocates.

In a crushing admission, one clinically vulnerable man shared with the M.E.N that he was now more worried about the rising cost of living than the implications of a rule rollback on his own health.

“I’m more bothered about the cost of living at the moment. I’m disabled and live alone and cant afford to go anywhere to catch the virus,” he said.



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Likewise, free antibody tests would put Christina’s mind at ease, showing whether or not she had some protection from the virus after multiple vaccines.

But those tests do not come free, and she is unable to go back to work after growing increasingly ill over the last two years.

‘It wouldn’t break the bank’, Christina says, but it is a financial consideration, nor does she feel she should have to pay out for something she cannot help.

“As an immunosuppressed person, I have no idea if my vaccine has had a response or created antibodies – but we don’t have access to free antibody testing unless we’ve had Covid-19.

“By the time I’ve got Covid, it’ll be too late for me, my life chances won’t be great if I contract it.

“When I step out of the door, I have no idea what risk I’m taking, and no way of finding out if I’m protected unless I go private.

“I feel like we’ve been abandoned, and that I’ve nowhere to turn. It’s really sad that I won’t be able to do the things I love like go to a restaurant, or to a bar, or to the pictures.”



Charging for tests will hit those on the breadline hardest, say national charity chiefs

Amanda Batten, Chief Executive of disability charity Contact, said: “While the advice to continue testing in special schools is welcome, there are clinically vulnerable and immunocompromised children in mainstream schools, where testing will no longer be required. This is a worry for the families we support.

“We feel it would have been safer to lift restrictions when clinically vulnerable 5-11-year-olds are able to have two Covid jabs. Most of them are only just getting their first and won’t be fully protected until the end of April.

“We are also concerned about charging for tests, which will inevitably penalise those on low incomes, as families with disabled children are three times more likely to live in poverty than others.



Some elements, including the kind of free testing available for vulnerable people, is still unclear, according to experts

“Boris Johnson did say that some vulnerable groups would continue to get access to free tests and we will seek clarification about who will receive these.

“Throughout the pandemic, disabled children and their families have felt forgotten and overlooked, and the announcement on Monday further cemented that view.”



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Nationally, Department of Health spokespeople are pushing the vaccine: “We recognise the importance of ensuring people who continue to be at higher risk from Covid-19 receive the right advice and interventions.

“This may be particularly important for those whose immune system means that they are at higher risk.

“Vaccines are the best way we can protect ourselves from the virus and we continue to urge all those eligible to get boosted now.”

As part of the changes, an additional booster will be offered to all adults aged over 75, older care home residents, and over-12s with weakened immune systems.

But at the very least, say other clinically vulnerable people, we must keep some ‘simple, sensible measures’ if everyone is to enjoy more freedom.

“I’m CEV and I’m very concerned about all measures ending,” says Julie Cullane, from Rawtenstall.



‘No one is saying lockdown, just a few simple measures’, says Julie Cullane

“Of course I will take responsibility for my own health, as I have always done, but that only goes so far – how can I go out and about safely if other people are Covid positive and no longer isolating, not wearing face masks or distancing?

“No one is saying we should be in a permanent lockdown, just keep some simple, sensible measures that help protect everyone and allow us all to have some freedom and normality again.”

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