‘I’ve stopped being eligible for the Covid vaccine and I’ve caught it three times in six months’

A woman who had half her lung removed has called for the Covid vaccine to be given the same priority as the flu jab after she caught the virus three times in the months since she was dropped from the eligibility list.

Ella Halpern-Matthews, a historian from Kent, has a severe respiratory illness and has been asthmatic since birth.

She had half a lung removed due to cystic adenomatoid malformation and suffers chronic chest infections, which make her more vulnerable to common colds and Covid. However, she stopped being eligible for an NHS booster vaccine earlier this year when the health service updated its criteria.

The 27-year-old takes precautions to protect herself by wearing a high-quality face mask and avoids crowded poorly ventilated spaces such as the London Underground. Despite this, she has still caught Covid three times since her last booster jab.

She says her health condition makes her feel “cut off from society”, forcing her to miss out on parties, concerts or family birthdays.

She said: “If I want to protect my health, I’m essentially forced to be a hermit and forgo community and life in public.”

She added: “Beyond the physical and mental exhaustion of infection, it’s been extremely difficult navigating the UK social scene, because no one wants to talk about Covid, no one tests when they’re sick, and people don’t like to cancel plans when they’re unwell.

Ms Halpern-Matthews says she has had “frank difficult conversations with friends and loved ones” over testing and mask wearing and is now “actively seeking out new Covid-conscious friends.”

Seasonal Covid-19 vaccination eligibility in England is now only available to adults aged 75 and over, older adult care home residents, and people who are immunosuppressed, according to the Green Book, which acts as a guide on immunisation to UK health professionals.

This represents a change from Autumn 2024, which included adults aged 65 to 74, or those aged 6 months and over in a clinical risk group.

Ms Halpern-Matthews used to fall into the immunosuppressed category, but since this spring, the NHS have tightened their criteria to only apply to those who are taking an immune suppressant medication. Her last Covid jab was last year and she has had a total of eight vaccines since 2021, all free on the NHS.

NHS Kent and Medway, Ms Halpern-Matthews’s local provider, said it was unable to comment on the details of individual cases, but said that they follow national vaccination guidance.

However, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) which sets national guidelines, said the Green Book’s list immunosuppressed individuals is “not exhaustive” and “the prescriber may need to apply clinical judgment” to take into account the risk of Covid-19 exacerbating any underlying disease.

Ms Halpern-Matthews has been forced to crowdfund for her next jab because she says she cannot afford to pay a private provider, with vaccines in the UK priced at anywhere between £75 to £120 from independent pharmacies.

She said: “Honestly, I’m broke. If I could afford to pay out of pocket, I would. But also, I guess some of it is about raising awareness of just how dire the situation is here.

“You can get the Covid vaccine in France for under 10 euros, you can get it across the EU for less. If I were to pay for the Eurostar and do a day trip to France and get it, it could cost me less than a private jab here in the UK on my preferred proverbial doorstep.”

“This is a really clear example of the two-tier health system we have now, where people who can afford private healthcare can just go and do all this themselves, and have a private GP and are able to access all these essential life-saving medicines.”

Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive of the Independent Pharmacies Association (IPA) described the NHS flu and covid jab booking system as “chaos” and said some pharmacists had told her patients had become aggressive when told they were not eligible for an NHS Covid jab.

She said: “The NHS booking system this year is poor and has confused everyone. It allows age group 65 to 74 patients to book an appointment and self-declare themselves as immunosuppressed, even if they aren’t and the definition of immunosuppressed is not clear to them.”

The IPA raised concerns in August when the JCVI announced their decision to exclude patients aged 65 to 74 who are not immunosuppressed.

Ms Hanbeck added: “This is particularly worrying as there are reports of a new covid strain. Last year there were a lot of hospitalisations due to winter viruses, hence it is concerning that instead of increasing public protection by vaccinating a bigger cohort, they decided to limit it.

“Poor systems and poor communication by decision makers leaving community pharmacies on the front line on their own to manage the chaos, is not helping patient care.”