U.K. Faces Legal Fight Over Patient Priority for Covid-19 Shots

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. government faces a legal fight over its Covid-19 vaccine rollout, after two people with learning disabilities filed a suit calling for a rethink to the priority list.

The shots should be provided on an equal basis with other highly clinically vulnerable individuals, lawyers for the pair said in a statement Wednesday. The health minister failed to consider that people with learning disabilities were particularly at risk from dying from the virus, the lawyers at Bindmans said.

The health ministry didn’t immediately comment.

The British government has largely fended off legal challenges to its Covid plans after judges threw out a wholesale attempt to reverse lockdown restrictions. Still, it has tweaked rules on exercise and travel for those with specific conditions, such as autism, after reviews were threatened.

The legal challenge has been brought by a 19-year-old person who resides in a supported-living placement, and her 47-year-old mother. Both have learning disabilities, and neither is expected to receive a vaccine in the short term, the lawyers said.

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