Clinically Vulnerable Families has been a Core Participant in the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, speaking for people at higher medical risk. This page is our record of that work: what we did, what we said, what the Inquiry found and what we say about it now. Our documents are kept here so they remain available after the Inquiry’s website closes.
Chronology
Our history at the Inquiry
We took part from early 2023, putting forward Clinically Vulnerable people’s experience through written and oral evidence, submissions and our own surveys. We were a Core Participant in Modules 3 (healthcare), 4 (vaccines and therapeutics), 8 (children and young people) and 10 (impact on society). Adam Wagner KC led our legal team in Modules 3, 4, 8 and 10.
- February 2023
We set out our case for Module 3 (healthcare) in written submissions to the preliminary hearing.
- April 2024
CVF’s legal team made oral submissions at the Module 3 preliminary hearing.
- May 2024
Written submissions for Module 4 (vaccines and therapeutics).
- June 2024
Two CVF members, Lesley Jean Moore and Dr Adrian Warnock, gave Module 3 witness statements about their care.
- August 2024
Our written opening statement for Module 3.
- October 2024
Dr Catherine Finnis (8th October) and Lesley Moore (30th October) gave oral evidence in Module 3.
- November 2024
Adam Wagner KC delivered our oral closing submissions for Module 3 on 28th November.
- November 2024
Lara Wong gave our Module 4 witness statement. We were granted Core Participant status for Module 10.
- December 2024
Our opening statement for Module 4.
- January 2025
Lara Wong gave our Module 4 oral evidence on 16th January and Adam Wagner KC delivered our closing submissions on 31st January. Read our account: how Clinically Vulnerable Families were left behind
- February 2025
Written closing submissions for Module 4, and our submissions for the first Module 10 preliminary hearing.
- September 2025
Opening submissions for Module 8 (children and young people). Why the children’s module matters.
- October 2025
Lara Wong gave a Module 8 witness statement. We published our Report on Children & Young People and sent submissions to the second Module 10 preliminary hearing.
- October 2025
Adam Wagner KC questioned Professor Russell Viner and Professor Catherine Noakes for CVF in the Module 8 hearings (22nd October).
- February 2026
Module 10 hearings began. We published our Impact on Society Report alongside them. Lara Wong gave oral evidence on 24th February.
- March 2026
Adam Wagner KC delivered our oral closing submissions for Module 10 on 5th March.
- 19th March 2026
The Module 3 report was published. Our response: “We came masked. We changed minds”
- 16th April 2026
The Module 4 report was published. Our response: “A success story, yes. But for whom?”
- 14th September 2026
The Government responded to the Module 3 report. The Inquiry called for clean air in healthcare. Six months on, where is it?
Evidence & submissions
Evidence store
This is the archive: what we submitted, module by module. Opening and closing submissions set out what we asked the Inquiry to find. Written and oral evidence is the testimony of our team and our members. Where we hold a copy of a document, the link opens it from this site, so it stays available after the Inquiry’s website closes.
Module 3
Healthcare
Infection control, airborne transmission and DNACPR decisions
We argued that infection control in healthcare must reflect airborne transmission, and raised how DNACPR decisions affected Clinically Vulnerable patients.
Preliminary hearings
- Written submissionsSubmissions from CVF for the first preliminary hearing PDF, 259.2 KB21st February 2023
- Hearing transcriptFirst preliminary hearing, including CVF’s oral submissions PDF, 1,011.0 KB28th February 2023
- Written submissionsSubmissions from CVF for the preliminary hearing of April 2024 PDF, 216.4 KB27th March 2024
Opening submissions and statements
- Opening (written)Opening statement on behalf of CVF PDF, 1.5 MB22nd August 2024INQ000502156
Written evidence
- Witness statementDr Catherine Finnis, on behalf of CVF PDF, 46.2 MB31st January 2024INQ000409574
- Witness statementLesley Jean Moore, CVF member PDF, 1,002.0 KB13th June 2024INQ000485656
- Witness statementDr Adrian Warnock, CVF member PDF, 1.5 MB28th June 2024INQ000490087
Oral evidence
- Oral evidenceDr Catherine Finnis – hearing transcript PDF, 873.2 KB8th October 2024
- Oral evidenceLesley Moore – hearing transcript PDF, 784.9 KB30th October 2024
Closing submissions
- Closing (oral)Adam Wagner KC for CVF – hearing transcript PDF, 504.7 KB28th November 2024
Module 4
Vaccines & therapeutics
Vaccines, antivirals and protection for Clinically Vulnerable people
We argued that Clinically Vulnerable people were left behind on vaccines, antivirals and protective treatments such as Evusheld, and that the benefits of the programme were not shared fairly.
Preliminary hearings
- Hearing transcriptFirst preliminary hearing PDF, 794.0 KB13th September 2023
- Written submissionsClinically Vulnerable Families, Module 4, written submissions PDF, 127.9 KB13th May 2024
- Hearing transcriptSecond preliminary hearing PDF, 733.8 KB22nd May 2024
Opening submissions and statements
- Opening (written)Opening statement on behalf of CVF PDF, 11.8 MB13th December 2024INQ000474793
- Opening (oral)Day 1 hearing transcript, including opening statements PDF, 1,021.3 KB14th January 2025
Written evidence
- Witness statementLara Wong and Dr Catherine Finnis, on behalf of CVF PDF, 57.0 MB4th November 2024INQ000474526
Oral evidence
- Oral evidenceLara Wong – hearing transcript PDF, 895.9 KB16th January 2025
Closing submissions
- Closing (oral)Adam Wagner KC for CVF – Day 13 transcript PDF, 578.8 KB31st January 2025
- Closing (written)Module 4 closing submissions on behalf of CVF PDF, 17.9 MB14th February 2025INQ000574791
Expert evidence
- Expert reportProfessor Stephen Evans – Hurdles and nets: authorising and monitoring vaccines PDF, 12.5 MBModule 4INQ000474707
Module 8
Children & young people
Schools, masking and the experience of children in Clinically Vulnerable households
We put forward the experience of children in Clinically Vulnerable households, including school absence, pressure to deregister and bullying for masking.
Preliminary hearings
- Written submissionsSubmissions from CVF for the first preliminary hearing PDF, 322.5 KB20th August 2024
- Hearing transcriptFirst preliminary hearing PDF, 659.3 KB6th September 2024
Opening submissions and statements
- Opening (written)Opening submissions from CVF (Adam Wagner KC, Hayley Douglas, Lameesa Iqbal) PDF, 354.3 KB12th September 2025
- Opening (oral)Day 2 hearing transcript, core participants’ openings PDF, 846.9 KB30th September 2025
Written evidence
- Written evidenceEvidence submission from Lara Wong on behalf of CVF PDF, 46.0 MBOctober 2025INQ000587993
Oral evidence
- Oral evidenceLara Wong – Day 3 transcript1st October 2025
- Oral questioningAdam Wagner KC questions Professor Russell Viner and Professor Catherine Noakes – Day 15 transcript PDF, 915.9 KB22nd October 2025
Module 10
Impact on society
The long-term, unequal impact on people at higher medical risk
We asked the Inquiry to examine the long-term, unequal impact on people at higher medical risk, and to hear properly from experts on clinical vulnerability.
Preliminary hearings
- Written submissionsSubmissions for the first preliminary hearing PDF, 237.7 KB5th February 2025
- Written submissionsSubmissions for the second preliminary hearing PDF, 146.5 KB21st October 2025
- Hearing transcriptSecond preliminary hearing PDF, 546.4 KB4th November 2025
Opening submissions and statements
- Opening (written)Opening submissions on behalf of CVF PDF, 6.1 MB19th January 2026INQ000660101
- Opening (oral)Day 2 hearing transcript, core participants’ openings PDF, 971.6 KB17th February 2026
Written evidence
- ReportCVF, Impact on Society Survey PDF, 1.8 MBOctober 2025INQ000657072
- Witness statementLara Wong, on behalf of CVF PDF, 188.4 KB17th October 2025INQ000657970
Oral evidence
- Oral evidenceLara Wong – Day 6 transcript PDF, 904.2 KB24th February 2026
Closing submissions
- Closing (oral)Adam Wagner KC for CVF – Day 12 transcript PDF, 765.5 KB5th March 2026
- Closing (written)Closing submissions on behalf of CVF PDF, 2.3 MBApril 2026INQ000660210
More documents are added as they are published or found.
External evidence
Expert evidence that matters to Clinically Vulnerable people
The evidence store is what CVF submitted. This is the independent evidence we relied on, or challenged, where the Inquiry’s experts missed the experience of people at higher medical risk.
Vaccines & monitoring
Professor Stephen Evans
Hurdles and nets – authorising and monitoring vaccines
Why it matters It sets out how vaccines were authorised and monitored, the context for our evidence on who was left behind.
Read the expert report (INQ000474707)Schools, air & children
Air, schools and children
Prof Jim McManus, Prof Clive Beggs, Prof Sir Chris Whitty and research on children’s education and mental health
Why it matters These sources underpin our Module 8 opening.
Read our Module 8 openingClinical vulnerability itself
Who should be heard
Prof Christina Pagel, Dr Duncan Robertson and Prof Catherine Noakes
Why it matters In Module 10 we criticised the commissioned report on “disability and clinical vulnerability” and asked the Inquiry to hear these experts.
Read our submissionsOutcomes
What the Inquiry found – and where our evidence shows
How we read each report. The Inquiry’s findings and our response are labelled separately, so you can always tell whose words and whose view you are reading.
Module 3 report — Healthcare
19th March 2026
Airborne transmission and clean air
The report calls for infection-prevention guidance to reflect all plausible routes of transmission (Recommendation 1) and for HEPA filtration and ventilation to be prioritised in healthcare buildings. This is the core of what we put to the Inquiry.
Our members’ voices
Dr Adrian Warnock’s evidence is quoted in the report, and our members’ accounts of care, including DNACPR decisions, sit behind its findings.
Not yet delivered
As we read it, the report makes no recommendation to review DNACPR decisions made during the pandemic, and none to recognise clinical vulnerability as a protected characteristic. We continue to press for both.
Module 4 report — Vaccines & therapeutics
16th April 2026
Protection must be a priority
The report accepts that protecting the immunocompromised, including through preventive drugs such as Evusheld, must be a priority.
Lara Wong’s evidence
The report quotes her on the freedoms others gained through vaccination, and the consequence of not protecting this group.
The gap
The report treats the vaccine programme as a success. Our response asks who that success was for, because Clinically Vulnerable people were left out of its benefits.
Module 8
Children & young people
Report awaited
The Inquiry has not yet published its Module 8 report. When it does, we will set out here how it reflects the evidence of children in Clinically Vulnerable households, including the findings in our own report.
Module 10
Impact on society
Report awaited
Hearings took place in February and March 2026. We will add the Inquiry’s findings when the report is published.
Our interpretation
Our articles on the Inquiry
September 2026 · Latest
The Inquiry called for clean air in healthcare. Six months on, where is it?
Our look at what has happened since the Module 3 report called for clean air in healthcare.
Read the article- August 2026Why are the media still asking the wrong question about schools during the pandemic?
- April 2026Covid Inquiry Module 4 report: “A success story, yes. But for whom?”
- March 2026Covid Inquiry Module 3 report: ‘We came masked. We changed minds’
- October 2025Forgotten Children: lasting harms to children in Clinically Vulnerable families
- September 2025Forgotten Children: why the Children & Young People’s Module matters
- March 2025“Learning to Live with Covid” didn’t result in any learning
- February 2025How Clinically Vulnerable Families were left behind
The bigger picture
The Inquiry is part of a bigger story
The Inquiry is one part of our work to make sure people at higher medical risk are heard, protected and able to participate fully in society.
Our reports Our stories The timeline of clinical vulnerability