How do the Government expect us to have faith in their alternative to Evusheld which is as mentioned by @Chrispy, i.e., the emergency treatment system via CMDU? The problems associated therewith formed part of the topics raised in my letter to my MP see my post under Government Policy.
I still read with great concern stories of the difficulties people with Blood Cancer have in accessing treatments for Covid. Its not giving any real confidence to “LIVE WITH COVID” that access to a viable alternative to the vaccine may provide e.g., EVUSHELD?
The word Broken in relation to the treatment system is being far too frequently used.
The majority of the 5 TESTs of Government Policy set out by BCUK and many other charities are clearly not being met!
Some things I have learnt.
In relation to any eligibility for treatment this appears to be a myth. There is no centrally recorded list with names and addresses of eligible patients. Why not you might well ask, surely by now they have had time to compile one, and furthermore for our clinicians to identify personally the appropriate treatment from those available.
Government acknowledges no list (see below)
Those who were in the 1.3 million sent a letter will note the wording which states “Your medical records show that you might be suitable for these treatments “if indeed you received a letter, after all that letter was not an entitlement it was advisory. No letter therefore would not appear to preclude treatment!
What there was after independent research was a list of cohorts or eligible groups.
The eligibility cohorts are listed in document pdf download link below;
Click link at top of the search page for pdf download.
I.e., if you condition is not listed you may not get treatment!
It appears the list of cohort groups is the first point of reference for the CMDU as they do not normally have any prior knowledge of a patient unless given specific information on the point of referral, by GP or Clinician.
As we are firstly advised to use 119 and if that fails 111 GP or Clinician the later instances of referral are largely by the endeavour of individuals after a failed 24hours awaiting a response. I doubt I personally will bother with 119 Should I catch covid.
So having found you are eligible the next step is determining which of the four treatments are they likely to give you.
First Line PAXLOVID (PF-07321332/ritonavir) antiviral pill combo- 2.75Million doses purchased (one dose 3 pills 2* day for 5 days) However, the list of drug interactions shown to preclude this treatment is very lengthy (see above document) hence a need to have a list of all medications including herbal ones handy should you need it. (See also Liverpool drug interaction checker referred to at bottom of the above pdf.)
I found there is not always a correlation to things listed with the drug checker but it does let you print off your own report of your medications in relation to their interaction with the 4 treatment options currently available which is handy should you need it
Evidence Basis for use of Paxlovid study in April 2022
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2118542
Second Line Sotrovimab (mAbs) via infusion. One of the first of the treatments purchased by the Government. One of the others Ronapreve has been discontinued it is not effective against BA2. Nb FDA in USA in April also withdrew the authorisation for Sotrovimab due to doubts about its effectiveness against BA2. In the UK NICE have recommended further testing required. That does not seem to prevent the NHS relying upon it. Assumedly quite widely in view of limitations above.
Evidence Basis for use study published in Oct 2021 (NB Pre Omicron the first case of which recorded in SA was Nov 2021)
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2107934
Third Line Remdesivir antiviral intravenously given.
Fourth Line Molunipriver antiviral pill 2.35m doses purchased, seemingly only given if above options N/A 30% efficacy.
Specifically, it states the first three have similar efficacies the fourth being much lower what they don’t say is that the efficacies are necessarily in relation to the BA2 variant
NB evidence basis is that referred to in
Interim Clinical Commissioning Policy: Antivirals or neutralising monoclonal antibodies for non-hospitalised patients with COVID-19 (Version 5)
Published in Feb 2022 the Pdf download above is referred to in that document and as such is part thereof.