Around 1.7 million more people will be added to the shielding list in England after experts identified additional adults at serious risk of Covid-19, health officials have said.
Letters will be arriving imminently telling people they should be in the shielding group. Those newly identified as being at higher risk because of multiple factors, including underlying health conditions, will get priority access for vaccines, officials confirmed.
The list was expanded after scientists developed a new tool that assesses whether someone is at risk of severe disease or death.
The tool looks at multiple factors including age, ethnicity, body mass index (BMI), other health conditions and also postcode, which is indicative of levels of deprivation.