Household contacts of people with blood cancer eligible for COVID-19 vaccination

Update on 27 April:
If you live in Wales, are over 16, and are a household contact of a severely immunosuppressed person, you can complete a self-referral form to register for vaccination. 

Over 16s who live with an adult who has lowered immunity have been added to the list of people prioritised for vaccination against COVID-19. This includes people over 16 who live with adults with blood cancer, including lymphoma.

The new guidance is to help protect people with lowered immunity, who are more at risk from infection and who may not respond as well as other people to vaccination. It is based on recent evidence that vaccination reduces transmission of COVID-19. This means that vaccinating household contacts has the potential to reduce the risk to people who may not respond fully to vaccination themselves.

This will make such a huge difference to people who have been shielding. To know that those around them are also protected will give them the added reassurance that they need. 

Ropinder Gill, Chief Executive, Lymphoma Action

The updated guidance applies to all nations in the UK.

If you have lymphoma and you are on the clinically extremely vulnerable list, your GP should contact you to let you know that any over-16s you live with are now eligible for vaccination. We understand it will happen in the following way:

1. GP practices will identify those who are severely immunosuppressed.
2. GP practices should write to inform these people that their adult household contacts are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. 
3. The letter from the GP asks severely immunosuppressed individuals to let their household contacts know that they are eligible for vaccination and that they could contact their registered GP practice. 
4. Household contacts will use the letter, together with their own proof of address, which must match that of the immunosuppressed individual, to provide evidence of eligibility for vaccination. This will be requested on arrival for their vaccination appointment.

An adult household contact is someone aged 16 or over who is sharing your accommodation and therefore close contact is unavoidable. Children are excluded. Members of household 'bubbles' that do not live with an immunosuppressed person for the majority of the week are excluded. 

More information about the COVID-19 vaccine, including the vaccination of adult household contacts, is available on our website. 

Updated 27 April 2021