Covid vaccine: Tourette's sufferer distressed by 'mask order'

Natalie Davidson said she was wearing a sunflower lanyard to indicate she had a hidden disability

A teacher with Tourette's syndrome said she was left in severe distress when she had to wear a mask for her Covid-19 vaccination, despite being exempt.

In an emotional video on Instagram, Natalie Davidson said she was told she could not have the jab unless she put on a covering.

She wore a Sunflower lanyard to indicate a hidden disability, she said.

South Worcestershire Healthcare said it had taken Ms Davidson's feedback on board.

Government advice says face covering are needed in NHS settings, but also details a number of reasons why people may be exempt, which include the triggering of acute distress, and incompatibility with hidden disabilities.

Tourette's is a neurological condition which causes involuntary sounds and movements, known as tics.

Ms Davidson - prioritised for inoculation as a teacher of vulnerable children - said that as part of her Tourette's, she would tend to involuntarily pull away material on or close to her face, which could in turn drive anxiety.

She said it would make the effects of Tourette's more pronounced, increasing anxiety further.

The video - which contains the use of expletives, linked to her Tourette's - has been viewed tens of thousands of times.

The teacher from Droitwich, Worcestershire, said her "anxiety was already high" when she arrived at the Artrix Centre in the county on 29 January because she was "not great with needles".

But she said her distress became more acute when told she would not be injected without a mask, despite making clear her Tourette's would make it almost impossible.

Ms Davidson added that she tried to put one on when informed the only other option would be receiving the vaccine outdoors - which, she said, meant a jab in front of people queuing for their own.

She explained that outcome would make her anxiety more unmanageable, saying it was unfair her exemption had left her singled out.

But inside the centre, she kept ripping masks from her face.

"I don't know how many I got through," she said, adding it took about 15 minutes for doctors to get her arm still enough to administer the jab.

When her Tourette's manifested with "shouting that everyone who had the vaccination was going to die", her distress was compounded.

She said in the video: "So not only was it making me worse, it was making it worse for everyone else.

"I don't think it's fair that because I can't medically wear a mask [they] wanted me to sit in front of a crowd and have a vaccination."

Natalie Davidson said the experience "not only made it worse for me, but for everyone else"

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Ms Davidson, who has appeared in a Channel 5 Documentary about Tourette's and speaks in public about the condition, is calling for more awareness

She says she worries that a lack of understanding may prohibit other people with mask exemptions getting the vaccine.

"I want to ensure other people that are mask-exempt, or have got anxiety, don't walk away from this," she said. "Because [vaccines are] ultimately what can get us back to some form of normality."

A spokesperson for South Worcestershire Healthcare said it was "disappointed to hear Natalie had a negative experience".

"We've taken on board Natalie's feedback, and we're confident that going forward we'll be better able to assist patients with mask exemptions when they are vaccinated at the Artrix."

For more information, advice and support on Tourette's, visit this BBC guidance page.