“It’s very important for people who have a learning disability to have the COVID-19 vaccine” – Cath shares her vaccine story
People who are on the learning disability register at their GP practice have now been invited to have their COVID-19 vaccine.
Catherine Horbury, co-lead for the Yorkshire and Humber learning disability and autism operational delivery network, recently took this opportunity and shares the importance of having the vaccine if you have a learning disability, alongside her own vaccine experience.
“Hello, my name is Cath and I am extremely vulnerable as I have got a learning disability and Down’s syndrome.
“I would like to say that it is very important for people who are vulnerable, the elderly or people who have a learning disability to have the COVID-19 vaccine. If you are invited to have a vaccine please do so, as it may just save your life.
“I was invited to have my vaccine through a text message which came from my GP practice. On the day of my vaccine, I put a face mask on before I entered my GP practice and went to the reception desk. The receptionist told me to enter the waiting room ready to be called in for my vaccine.
“I was nervous about having the vaccine at first, but I was ok when I had the vaccine as I had support from a family member which was good, and she told me to not worry about anything and that she was here for me.
“The nurse who did the vaccine was lovely and I didn’t feel a thing, everything was good.
“After having my vaccine, I had some headaches and felt sick for a couple of days. However, after a couple of days I felt ok.”
Cath also shared how important it is for vaccination sites to have information in accessible formats such as easy read: “They did ask me questions which I didn’t fully understand but I had some support from a family member, which helped. But I think they should have had easy read information to help me understand the questions they were asking me to answer.”
Read Cath’s story in an easy read version.
To download easy read COVID-19 vaccine leaflets and other materials, please visit the Gov.UK website.
If you have any queries about the learning disability register, please speak to your GP practice.
