BBC Radio DJ Jo Whiley calls for those with learning disabilities to be prioritised in vaccine rollout

Following her revelation that her sister, Frances, had been treated for Covid 19 after an outbreak at her care home, radio presenter, Jo Whiley, has renewed her call for people with learning disabilities to be prioritised in the UK’s vaccination programme.

Jo Whiley has been campaigning for those with learning disabilities for years and spoke out earlier this year after being offered the vaccine before her sister who has the rare Cri du Chat genetic syndrome. Recently, Frances was admitted to hospital with Covid19 but has since been discharged, a video of her drinking a cup of tea was shared on Jo Whiley’s social media.

Speaking on her social media, Jo Whiley said: “It’s hard to believe we’ve gone from discussing palliative care on Friday night to sitting on her favourite bench drinking cups of tea.

“Covid has brought with it further complications. We’re now dealing with worrying diabetes and high blood pressure issues and my parents are exhausted beyond belief. It’s so hard observing from behind a visor and mask, helpless doesn’t cover it.”

Alongside the video of her sister, Jo added that Frances would: “like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped her, especially the amazing doctors and nurses of the NHS and her many, many well wishers.”

She followed up her posts by appearing on Andrew Marr’s show, during her interview she said: “People couldn’t cope with Frances, when she was admitted to hospital she was so terrified that she rampaged through the hospital and people couldn’t contain her.”

The experience has lead for her once again call for the prioritisation of those with learning disabilities. “So many have died or are suffering from long Covid because they were simply not protected. We need to show them that they are not forgotten and we care.”

In a previous interview, she said that people with learning disabilities are neglected by society and that she would give up her vaccine space in a heartbeat if she could. At this point, more than 15 million people have received their first dose of the Covid vaccine, with the government giving priority to certain age groups. Jo Whiley said she doesn’t know why she had been called for an injection before her sister, though did say it might have been because she is classed as a carer.

She said: “I suppose what I am doing is just wanting to speak up for people like Frances, people who live in her care home, who have been overlooked, because this happens so often. People with learning difficulties are neglected. They haven’t got a voice, they haven’t got anybody there [….] I would give up my vaccine in a heartbeat if I could for my sister and any of the residents in her house to have their vaccine. It just doesn’t feel right.”

According to MENCAP,  people with learning disabilities are six times more likely to die from Covid-19 then the rest of the population, yet those with mild or moderate learning disabilities are not in the priority groups.