Deaf News: Uncertainty over vaccines for BSL interpreters as conflicting statements issued

There is uncertainty over the eligibility of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters to receive the coronavirus vaccine.

In a tweet by the Association of Sign Language Interpreters (ASLI) on Friday, the organisation said that “BSL Interpreters have now been added to the list of professions included in Social Care” on the Government’s National Careers Service website.

“So, now you can book your COVID vaccine,” they add.

BSL Interpreters have now been added to the list of professions included in Social Care.https://t.co/9YCJRyGND8
So, now you can book your COVID vaccine using this link:https://t.co/pFgMBdePij takes about 2 minutes, is super easy and you can book your second dose too.

— ASLI (@ASLIuk) February 19, 2021

A similar message was also shared by the National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deafblind people (NRCPD) on Twitter later the same day.

However, a Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson told The Limping Chicken that BSL interpreters as a specific profession have not been added to the vaccine priority list.

“People who work directly with someone who is clinically vulnerable to COVID-19 are eligible for prioritisation, this could include BSL interpreters,” they said.

The individual also went on to share a definition of the second priority group, which covers “all frontline social care workers directly working with people clinically vulnerable to COVID-19 who need care and support irrespective of where they work”.

It reads: “This includes social care workers providing care in people’s own homes, day centres, care homes for working age adults or supported housing; whether they care for clinically vulnerable adults or children; or who they are employed by, whether private companies, charities, local authorities or the NHS.

“It also includes ancillary workers employed in a social care setting including kitchen staff, housekeeping or domestic workers, drivers, and transport managers.

“Local authorities will be responsible for working with providers of frontline social care services to identify eligible care workers, including those employed as personal assistants to people clinically vulnerable to COVID-19.”

The latest comment from DHSC follows several earlier calls by deaf organisations to vaccinate BSL interpreters, with the NCRPD announcing in January that it had written to all of the 135 CCGs in the UK calling on them to vaccinate “registered language service professionals” alongside frontline Health and Social Care professionals.

NRCPD has written to all 135 UK Clinical Commissioning Groups urging them to vaccinate NRCPD Registered Language Service professionals alongside frontline Health and Social Care professionals. #Deaf access to key public services must be maintained. #NHS #COVID19Vaccine pic.twitter.com/xOysSQtJwu

— NRCPD (@NRCPD) January 29, 2021

In a video shared to Twitter, the organisation writes: “We are concerned that the risk facing our registrants working in-person with deaf patients and healthcare staff is reducing the numbers available for work, due to not being vaccinated.

“Without the safety that early vaccination brings, the number of professionals available will not be able to match the demand for effective language services in settings involving deaf people.

“This can lead to healthcare provision failing deaf people.”

Elsewhere, ASLI released a statement urging health bodies such as Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), GPs and hospital trusts to give interpreters and translators the jab in the second wave of the vaccine rollout.

The second wave concerns vaccinating the rest of the population once those in the top nine priority groups have received the jab.

These nine groups include those aged 50 or over, frontline health and social care workers and 16 to 65-year-olds in “an at-risk” group.

The document reads: “Interpreters work in a variety of settings, which are likely to have a high risk of virus exposure, such as: schools and universities, workplaces, for public services such as court and police, and in all healthcare sectors.

“Translators, who are deaf themselves, work in much the same settings and often act as intermediaries, relays, and language experts, for example, in cases of severe language deprivation of the client, or where the client uses a communication method or sign language other than British Sign Language (BSL).

“A delay in vaccination could result in disruption, and unacceptable, delay of services, organisations may continue to refuse interpreter/translator involvement to minimise risk, and ultimately additional risks for deaf BSL users resulting from lack of information and access to services.”

However, in a comment issued to The Limping Chicken last month, the COVID-19 chair for the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) said the group’s advice on prioritisation was “developed with the aim of preventing as many deaths as possible”.

Professor Wei Shen Lim said: “As the single greatest risk of death from COVID-19 is older age, prioritisation is primarily based on age.

“It is estimated that vaccinating everyone in the priority groups would prevent 99% of deaths, including those associated with occupational exposure to infection.”

The JCVI has also said that vaccine prioritisation by occupation “could form part of a second phase”, but added that this is “considered an issue of policy, rather than for JCVI to advise on”.

After reporter Liam O’Dell shared Professor Wei Shen Lim’s comments on Twitter, ASLI responded to say that the vaccination of sign language interpreters “[seems] to depend on your health authority”.

Some members are reporting they have had the vaccine or are booked in. Others are having to argue for a place in the queue. Does seem to depend on your health authority.

— ASLI (@ASLIuk) January 12, 2021

“Some members are reporting they have had the vaccine or are booked in. Others are having to argue for a place in the queue,” they said.

The UK Government announced earlier this month that 15 million people had been given their first vaccine dose, meeting its mid-February target.

On Saturday, the Prime Minister revealed that all adults would be offered the jab by the end of July under an accelerated rollout.

Politicians are yet to make a decision on who will be prioritised in the second phase of the vaccination programme.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is a mildly deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He wears bilateral hearing aids and can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.

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Update – 26.02.21: The JCVI has today published its interim advice on who will next receive the COVID-19 jab once the top nine priority groups have been vaccinated.

Phase two of the rollout, which concerns vaccinating the wider population, will begin with those between 40 and 49 years of age offered the vaccine, before progressing down the age ranges to 18 to 29-year-olds.

The committee ruled out proposals to vaccinate based on occupation, saying it would be “more complex to deliver”.

“[It] may slow down the vaccine programme, leaving some more vulnerable people at higher risk unvaccinated for longer.

“Operationally, simple and easy-to-deliver programmes are critical for rapid deployment and high vaccine uptake,” the press release reads.

Professor Wei Shen Lim, COVID-19 Chair for the JCVI, added: “Vaccinations stop people from dying and the current strategy is to prioritise those who are more likely to have severe outcomes and die from COVID-19.

“The evidence is clear that the risk of hospitalisation and death increases with age. The vaccination programme is a huge success and continuing the age-based rollout will provide the greatest benefit in the shortest time, including to those in occupations at a higher risk of exposure.”

The advice follows calls for specific professions to be prioritised in phase two, with ASLI calling for BSL interpreters to be next in the queue after phase one.

The Limping Chicken has approached ASLI for comment.

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Update – 01.03.21: In a statement to The Limping Chicken, an ASLI spokesperson clarified that the association’s efforts focussed on “including BSL interpreters and translators in phase one, group two of the vaccine rollout”.

“[This is because] we feel that those colleagues who regularly work in healthcare settings should be classed as frontline healthcare workers as outlined in the JCVI advice.

“This does not necessarily include all BSL interpreters and translators, only those who work in the relevant settings.

“ASLI argues that where interpreters and translators are working with professionals who have been prioritised, those colleagues should also be vaccinated to minimise risks for patients, and caregivers, as well as for their own protection in high risk environments,” they said.

The spokesperson went on to add that they had received “positive responses” from “a large number” of CCGs, as a result of working with the NRCPD on the issue.

They said: “We hope that the majority of colleagues falling into those categories have already received at least the first dose of the vaccine.

“As for the general rollout to the public in phase 2, we advise our colleagues to follow the guidance issued by the JCVI.”