Jo Whiley made an impassioned plea to the Government as she shared an update on her sister’s fight with coronavirus.
The BBC Radio 2 host opened up on “the cruellest twist in the world” after what she described as “the worst week of our lives.”
Her sister Frances is in hospital with Covid-19 and is “fighting for her life”.
An emotional Jo told The Andrew Marr Show that she was offered a vaccination before Frances, who has a learning disability and diabetes.
The 55-year-old, from Northampton, said: “It’s been the worst week of our lives without a shadow of a doubt.
“24 hours ago we were talking palliative care and yesterday she rallied round and we saw her oxygen levels rise.
“So at the moment we’ve got hope… 24 hours ago we didn’t have any hope at all.
“She is an amazing fighter she always has been a great fighter and I’m just hoping her spirit gets her through.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said today that one in three adults in the UK has now received a coronavirus vaccine.
He said the Government is confident it has the supplies to meet the July 31 target and to vaccinate all adults over 50, and higher risk groups, by April 15.
Jo added: “I’ve been asking for her, wanting for her to have the vaccine for a year then for me to suddenly get a message offering me the vaccine felt hideously unfair.
“And she actually was called in for her vaccine last night, my mum got a message to say that she could get vaccinated – but it’s too late she’s fighting for her life in hospital.
“It couldn’t be crueller.”
Jo wants to use her experience to send a message on behalf of those with learning disabilities.
She said: “There should be no debate, forget the classifications, forget the cohorts all those kind of things.
“Just protect these people, they are so precious and so vulnerable, they have no way of fighting for themselves so we have to fight for them.
“Get them and their carers who are going into the home, and this is how it’s spreading, get them vaccinated, stop them dying now.”
Mr Hancock insisted that the Government’s goal is to take a “cautious but irreversible approach” to return to normal life.
He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “The vaccination programme, whilst clearly going very well, will take time to be able to reach all people who have significant vulnerability, especially because we need to get the second jab to everybody.
“We’ve got time that needs to be taken to get this right. The Prime Minister will set out the road map tomorrow and he will set out the full details – taking into account that we need to take a cautious but irreversible approach, that’s the goal.”
Leading epidemiologist Professor John Edmunds, a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said any easing of the lockdown must be gradual to prevent a surge in hospital admissions and deaths.
He told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show that, while vaccinating all adults by the end of July will make a “huge difference”, easing restrictions rapidly would put the NHS under pressure again.
“If we eased off very rapidly now, we would get another surge in hospitalisations, so we have to ease very gradually. Otherwise we will put the health service under pressure again and we’ll get a surge in hospitalisations, and indeed deaths.”