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Clinically Vulnerable Families 💙💜💗

@cv_cev

Nov 8, 2025 • 10 tweets • 4 min read • Read on X

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🧵 This autumn the UKHSA is rightly worried, as 'flu is a real risk...

TLDR:
Clinically Vulnerable people ALL need 'flu vaccines + antivirals this year (if symptomatic or exposed) + confused infection control guidance.

If you are Clinically Vulnerable, please read on...

1/

This year's strains aren't looking good:

The infections have started earlier.
A(H3N2) strains are dominant - and linked to worse outcomes.
A shifted strain (slightly different to vaccines) is also doing the rounds.

2/

If you have been invited for a vaccine, or live with a Clinically Vulnerable person (but don't qualify) please consider getting a vaccine - they can be as cheap as £9.95.

Everyone benefits from 'flu vaccines and children (up to 16) are offered them for free in school.

3/

If you are eligible for the NHS flu vaccine because you in a higher-risk group (due to age or health conditions), this year it also means you are eligible for antivirals either:

🤒 If you have 'flu symptoms

or

🌬 If you have been exposed to someone with 'flu

4/

If you get flu-like symptoms:
Antiviral treatment shouldn’t wait for a lab result.

High-risk patients should be treated promptly because antivirals work best early (ideally within 48hrs).

Call your GP or NHS 111.

5/

Antivirals (after exposure):

Have you been in close contact with a confirmed/suspected flu case?

High-risk people should be offered preventive antivirals. These are also time-critical. Seek advice within 48hrs of exposure.

6/

UKHSA is suggesting infection control:

Ventilation, grouping of patients, and hand hygiene have been recommended.

Healthcare workers with symptoms should mask.

... but universal masking?!?!

7/

NHS labs have already moved into full in-season surveillance to track strains and resistance.

That means better, faster information for guiding treatment - which is reassuring for patients.

8/

Our recommendations:

💉 Get vaccinated (flu and Covid, if you can)

😷Wear a close fitting high-grade (FFP2/FFP3) mask in high-risk indoor public spaces.

🪟 Open windows in healthcare and consider buying air filters.

🧼 Wash your hands.

🏠 And PLEASE stay at home sick.

9/

If you are unsure whether you qualify for a vaccines please read the Green Book for Influenza:

10/ assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6838317b…

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More from @cv_cev

Clinically Vulnerable Families 💙💜💗

@cv_cev

Apr 10

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/2042226205823266837

Let this sink in...

🚑 HEALTHY adults vaccinated against Covid Sept - Dec 2025 reduced their likelihood of emergency and urgent care visits by 50%.

🏨 Hospitalisations were reduced by 55%

(compared with those not vaccinated)
1/🧵

https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/2042226205823266837

The UK has not shared data from 2025. But for CV people it is much worse:

2024 JCVI data showed that vaccines reduced hospitalisations for Clinically Vulnerable people by 45%.

They published it!
...then removed millions with health conditions from eligibility!

2/

45% may sound lower.
But if your baseline is 2-12x more likely to be hospitalised from Covid, a 45% reduction in risk prevents 2-12x more hospitalisations per dose.

The JCVI removed high-risk groups on cost-effectiveness grounds.
But the cost-effectiveness case is stronger!

3/

Read 12 tweets

Clinically Vulnerable Families 💙💜💗

@cv_cev

Mar 29

The government just published its Pandemic Preparedness Strategy.

TLDR: Some welcome commitments inc. on ventilation. But Clinically Vulnerable people are still not clearly defined or automatically protected, and the prioritisation framework won't arrive until 2027.

1/🧵

What's new?

Published 25 March 2026, this is the UK's first major pandemic strategy since Covid.

It covers all 4 nations, sets out 12 principles and detailed action plans to 2030, backed by around £1 billion of investment.

But what about the detail...?

2/

They know another pandemic is coming... and epidemics are also a risk.

The question is:
Will Clinically Vulnerable families be protected when it does?

- This document raises the question more than it answers it.

3/

Read 20 tweets

Clinically Vulnerable Families 💙💜💗

@cv_cev

Mar 25

📉 Kent MenB outbreak

⚠️East Kent Trust failed to report their first case for 2 days⚠️

Here's what you need to know.
TLDR: Peaked 13th March. No new cases since - with reporting delays, but that's even better news than it sounds.
1/🧵 👇 @laurabundock @SkyNews

THE OUTBREAK IS DECLINING but understates how well that's going. 📉

The earliest case became unwell on 9th March, with the latest on 16th March, and the peak was 13th March.

2/

Cases take time to be confirmed and reported.

The fact that nothing new has surfaced in the data as of 23rd March - despite the reporting lag - means the real-world situation is almost certainly better than the numbers show.

3/

Read 15 tweets

Clinically Vulnerable Families 💙💜💗

@cv_cev

Mar 18

Meningitis
* Important thread for those who prefer balanced and factual information *

In order to understand risk we need to break down a few things....

🦠Risk from the bacteria
💙💜💗 Individual risk
🎓 Environmental risks
1/

The Kent outbreak is predominantly MenB (Group B). This is a serious infection - and potentially an adapted strain - investigations are ongoing...

Bacterial meningitis is rare but more severe than viral, and up to 1 in 10 cases of bacterial meningitis in the UK is fatal.

2/

MenB isn't new. There are around 300 cases of MenB per year in the UK, even with vaccination programmes.

What's unusual is the cluster - multiple cases linked to a single location in a short window. It has now spread to a student at a second university in Canterbury, Kent.
3/

Read 9 tweets

Clinically Vulnerable Families 💙💜💗

@cv_cev

Mar 5

UK COVID INQUIRY - CVF💙💜💗
@AdamWagner1 Closing Submissions

The Covid Inquiry has good ventilation protocols (as advised by CVF at the start of the Inquiry) including HEPA filters.

Under 1000ppm is therefore the safe threshold ( but without it would be under 800ppm).

1/

We need to understand airborne transmission in order to make all indoor environments safer for everyone, and especially for Clinically Vulnerable people.

2/

The need for Clinically Vulnerable people to have:

Safety
Support
& Status

3/

Read 14 tweets

Clinically Vulnerable Families 💙💜💗

@cv_cev

Mar 1

🚨COVID INQUIRY ROUND UP (Wk2)

This week saw CVF's evidence & organisations representing: disability, domestic abuse, faith, migrants, homeless, prisons, local government.

Expert evidence focused on: later life, LGBTQ+, race and gender inequalities (Dr Clare Wenham, below)

1/

EXPERT RACIAL INEQUALITIES

Prof Laia Bécares discussed the risks in multigenerational households where there were keyworkers and children in schools.

2/

EXPERT LATER LIFE
Prof @JamesNazroo

CVF were concerned that many older people, who were at high risk, were not supported to shield - which included advice on how to stay safe, as well as food deliveries and community outreach.

3/