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GPs have blamed people with Down syndrome for letters allowing them to go to college, despite being on the clinically vulnerable COVID-19 list, Sky News learned.
Prior to the second block, all people over the age of 18 with the condition were placed in this category.
Charities say it caused confusion and distress to families who felt they had to stop education and activities for their children.
Joe Tranter is doing a Zoom session with his college
Joe Tranter is connected to a Zoom session with his college.
The 20-year-old from Cheshire particularly enjoys writing and seeing his friends there, but hasn’t been for nearly a month.
Joe has Down syndrome, but his mother Sue did not expect the condition to be added to the clinically vulnerable list.
His college asked for a letter from the doctor to confirm he could still attend.
“I was shocked because up until then there was no indication that they were more vulnerable than anyone else in the general population,” Ms. Tranter said.
“I called the doctors to arrange the letter. I spoke to the secretary, who said if they did a letter it would cost £ 38 and take up to four weeks to produce. I don’t think it’s fair to charge in this case.”
Sue Tranter says she doesn’t think families should be blamed
The Department of Health says people on the clinically vulnerable list have not been asked to shield, but should be especially careful following the rules.
But Down’s Syndrome Association CEO Carol Boys said the government’s leadership is too broad and has been left open to misinterpretation.
“The whole thing is a bit of a mess,” he said.
“People who have Down syndrome have been told that they are part of this group which is clinically extremely vulnerable and that they have to stop doing everything they normally would do and stay at home and this has caused all sorts of anxiety and upset.”
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Many other parents have contacted the Association after being accused of letters to allow their children to attend college.
The organization points to recent research from the University of Oxford and the Trisomy 21 Research Society, which focuses on the condition and said that the confinement of all adults with Down syndrome is “not sufficiently justified.”
“People with Down syndrome are a very heterogeneous group and the risk of poor results COVID-19 it increases after age 40, “he said.
For some families, the risk is very real.
Martin O’Neill, who is 35 and has Down syndrome, stopped going to the day care center in March.
Martin O’Neill with his father, Jimmy
His father Jimmy says “probably 75% of his life goes there”.
“I know he got us, but if you’ve ever seen him getting ready to go there, jump on the spot. Without it, it’s calmer,” he said.
For them, as for two million other people who shield themselves, there was little sense of a second block because the first never finished.
Mr. O’Neill added: “Without a vaccine, I can’t see us do more than 12 months of this – it destroys the soul.”
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