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CCU044: Shielding and COVID-19 outcomes
Safe People
University of Bristol
Academic Institute
Deborah LawlorMira Hidajat
No
Safe Projects
CCU044
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, vulnerable groups were asked to shield by the UK government, assuming that shielding would protect them from severe illness and/or death from COVID-19. However, recent studies found worse COVID-19 outcomes (infections, hospitalisations, deaths) amongst vulnerable groups compared to the rest of the population. We have identified several opportunities to improve upon previous studies to examine how COVID-19 outcomes (infections, hospitalisations, deaths) differ between vulnerable groups and the rest of the population and to see what effect shielding has had on those differences. Our study seeks to improve upon previous research on shielding by analysing data from England, which has not been done before. Previous studies were conducted in Scotland and West London therefore our study will: • Contain a much larger data set than these previous studies. This means that we can look in more detail at differences. • Extend the length of the follow-up period to 15 months (to June 2021). Previous studies on shielding examined COVID-19 outcomes within a 3-month period. This will help us look at whether the changes to government policy over time affected differences between vulnerable people and the rest of the population. • Include important contextual factors that could affect the risk of COVID-19 infection, such as time and geographic location. Previous studies on shielding did not consider that COVID-19 infections varied greatly from one area to another and over time.
Our study could inform policy for the current ongoing COVID-19 pandemic or for future pandemics by providing information on whether a shielding policy would be effective in preventing infections, severe outcomes, and/or death in vulnerable populations.
13/04/2022
Safe Data
De-Personalised
Safe Setting
TRE