Additional detail has now been published on the individuals included in COVID vaccine priority groups 4 and 6 to help bring more clarity to the vaccination programme.

To keep updated on who is currently being vaccinated and for other COVID-19 vaccine information, please visit www.nhsinform.scot/covid19vaccine. If you think you should have been invited to your vaccination by now, you can access the missing invites form at www.nhsinform.scot/covid-19-vaccine/invitations-and-appointments/missing-appointment-details. Your enquiry will then be looked into and you will receive a communication within a couple of days.

Remember, the aim is to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. So, if you have received an invitation to attend a COVID-19 vaccination, it’s important you attend in order to keep you and the people around you safe.

Group 4

In addition to all people in Scotland aged 70 – 74, priority group 4 includes those adults aged 16-69 who are classified as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV). If you are classified as CEV in group 4, you will have received a letter from Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer advising you have been added to the shielding list.

You will have been added to the shielding list because you have a condition included in the shielding criteria agreed by the 4 Chief Medical Officers of the UK or because your GP or hospital clinician advised this based on their clinical expertise.

Although everyone (with the exception of carers and younger adults in long-stay nursing and residential care settings) within groups 4 and 6 will fall into the below table further down the page, those in group 4 have been invited for their vaccination first because they have had more recent treatment, a more advanced condition, which makes them at highest risk of severe illness from COVID-19.

If you were on the shielding list by 1 February 2021 should have already been invited to your vaccination. If you were added to the shielding list after this date, please wait for your invitation.

Group 6

If you are an individual aged 16 to 64 with underlying health conditions and are not on the shielding list, you are being offered the vaccine as part of group 6. That means if you received the flu vaccine, you will be included in this list.

The below lists the health conditions which will help you identify if you fall under group 6. If you have one of these underlying health conditions it puts you at a higher risk of being seriously affected by COVID-19, which could be critical. This means, if you are offered the vaccine, it’s important you take it. Unfortunately, if you are under 16 you are not currently being invited for vaccinations at the moment.

More detail on who is included in this group:

Condition More information
Chronic respiratory disease Severe lung conditions, including

  • Asthma that requires continuous or repeated use of systemic steroids or with previous exacerbations requiring hospital admission (patients who are well controlled on asthma inhalers are not eligible in priority group 6 for coronavirus vaccination)
  • chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) including chronic bronchitis and emphysema bronchiectasis
  • cystic fibrosis
  • interstitial lung fibrosis
  • pneumoconiosis
  • bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD)
Chronic heart disease and vascular disease Conditions such as:

  • congenital heart disease
  • hypertension with cardiac complications
  • chronic heart failure
  • individuals requiring regular medication and/or follow-up for ischaemic heart disease
  • atrial fibrillation
  • peripheral vascular disease
  • venous thromboembolism
Chronic kidney disease Conditions such as:

  • chronic kidney disease at stage 3, 4 or 5
  • chronic kidney failure
  • nephrotic syndrome
  • kidney transplantation
Chronic liver disease Conditions such as:

  • cirrhosis
  • biliary atresia
  • chronic hepatitis
Chronic neurological disease Conditions such as:

  • stroke
  • transient ischaemic attack (TIA)
  • conditions in which respiratory function may be
  • compromised due to neurological disease (e.g. polio · syndrome sufferers)
  • cerebral palsy
  • learning disabilities
  • Down’s Syndrome
  • multiple sclerosis
  • epilepsy
  • dementia
  • Parkinson’s disease
  • motor neurone disease and related or similar conditions
  • hereditary and degenerative disease of the nervous
  • system or muscles
  • severe neurological disability
Diabetes mellitus
  • Any diabetes, including diet-controlled diabetes.
Immunosuppression Conditions or treatments such as:

  • immunosuppression due to disease or treatment, including patients undergoing chemotherapy leading to immunosuppression
  • undergoing radical radiotherapy
  • solid organ transplant recipients
  • bone marrow or stem cell transplant recipients
  • HIV infection at all stages · multiple myeloma or genetic disorders affecting the immune system (e.g. IRAK-4, NEMO, complement disorder, SCID)
  • receiving immunosuppressive or immunomodulating biological therapy including, but not limited to anti-TNF, alemtuzumab, ofatumumab and rituximab
  • receiving protein kinase inhibitors or PARP inhibitors being treated with steroid-sparing agents such as cyclophosphamide and mycophenolate mofetil
  • being treated with or likely to be treated with systemic steroids for more than a month at a dose equivalent to prednisolone at 20mg or more per day for adults

This also includes:

  • anyone with a history of haematological malignancy, including leukaemia, lymphoma, and myeloma
  • anyone with systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis
  • anyone with psoriasis who may require long term immunosuppressive treatments
Asplenia or dysfunction of the spleen This also includes conditions that may lead to splenic dysfunction, such as homozygous sickle cell disease, thalassemia major and coeliac syndrome.
Morbid obesity Adults with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than or equal to 40.
Severe mental illness Conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or any mental illness that causes severe functional impairment.

Also included within priority group 6 are the following:

Younger adults in long-stay nursing and residential care settings:

Many younger adults in residential care settings will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine because they fall into one of the clinical risk groups (for example learning disabilities). Given the likely high risk of exposure in these settings, vaccination of the whole resident population is recommended.

Younger residents in care homes for the elderly will also be at a higher risk of exposure. Although they may be at lower risk than older residents, they will have been offered the COVID-19 vaccine at the same time as other residents in care homes for older people.

Unpaid carers:

If you are an unpaid carer aged 16 to 64, you will now begin to be offered the vaccination alongside adults with eligible at-risk health conditions (priority group 6). Those unpaid carers aged 65 and over should have been offered the vaccine earlier in priority groups 2 to 5.

The Scottish Government is using the definition for an unpaid carer as set out in the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 however for the purposes of vaccinations this will not cover those who provide only remote care.

Some NHS boards are now beginning to call forward a limited number of carers identified through GP systems and social security data of those on relevant benefits, as vaccine supply allows. Carers do not have to do anything at this time if they have not received their appointment letter, are not on benefits or if they are not registered with their GP as a carer.

Further information will be available shortly about the forthcoming self-referral system for carers in Scotland which we expect to launch in early March. A dedicated national marketing campaign will be launched alongside the self-referral system to raise awareness and encourage carers to come forward.

Priority group 6 includes a large number of people. It will take some time to invite everyone, so please wait to be invited for your vaccination over the coming weeks.