Excellent letter in The Times today from Gemma Peters and Lord Mendelsohn about Evusheld or rather the government’s apparent total disinterest in rolling it out.Thank you for continuing to fight our corner.
Sadly only one response on online comments as obviously everyone preoccupied with PM’s shenanigans (and bizarrely cricket commentaries on the BBC). Presumably the lack of proper government will set back any decisions about it.
Sorry I don’t know to put a link. Perhaps someone else can?
There is also an article within the paper titled “ Britain must buy Covid drug to protect vulnerable plead experts”. In the digital edition it is “ Calls grow for government to order Covid drug to boost protection for vulnerable” but like you I am not sure how to post the link.
Have we got a government who can make these decisions??
I hadn’t spotted that - didn’t scroll down far enough! I’ve lost track who is Health Secretary and will whoever it is be there long enough to make any informed decisions?
At this moment in time I believe it is Steve Barclay but, as you say, how long will he be there?
December 23 2021, 1.15pm
The calls come as Covid cases continue to rise across the UK. One person in 30 in England was infected with coronavirus in the week ending June 25, and over 11,000 hospital beds in the country are filled with Covid-positive patients.
Evusheld is being used in countries including the United States and Israel but the UK government has yet to ask AstraZeneca for supplies.
In a letter published in The Times today, Gemma Peters, chief executive of Blood Cancer UK, and Lord Mendelsohn, co-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vulnerable Groups to Pandemics, say that this represents a failure of a promise made at the start of the pandemic that the government would “do everything in its power to protect the vulnerable”.
They write: “People who are immunocompromised are still dying from Covid at much higher rates than the rest of the population. They cannot afford to wait. They deserve better.”
Trials showed Evusheld cuts the risk of symptomatic disease by 77 per cent.
UK health officials are believed to want more data on the drug’s efficacy against Omicron as the trials were done before the variant emerged.
However campaigners say that the drug is likely to remain effective, even if it needs to be given at a higher dose, and that urgent action is needed.
Peters said: “Around 100 people with blood cancer are dying of Covid a month in England and Wales, and with the infection rate extremely high at the moment, it is vital they are given every possible protection.
“The government is rightly proud of how the vaccine programme has given protection to the general population, but we have yet to see the same sense of urgency in protecting people whose weakened immune systems mean the vaccines have not worked as well.
“Steve Barclay should make his first act as secretary of state for health and social care to make Evusheld available, which would be an important step towards protecting immunocompromised people against Covid.”
Adrian Warnock, a doctor and blood cancer patient, was a volunteer in the Evusheld clinical trial and is frustrated that he cannot get a second dose. He is campaigning for the government to fund the treatment.
He said: “Evusheld will offer us similar levels of protection to the vaccines in those with working immune systems. Vaccination wasn’t paused just in case it didn’t work quite as well in new variants. There is good evidence from the UK and other countries that Evusheld continues to be effective against all current variants.”
A spokesman for AstraZeneca said: “We hope to supply the UK once the government confirms that it intendeds to procure Evusheld and that the NHS will provide pre-exposure prophylaxis for UK patients. There is a high global demand so we are prioritising supply to the countries where agreements are in place.”
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “We recognise the strong interest from patients in receiving Evusheld as a preventative therapy prior to exposure of Covid.
“We have been conducting an assessment of Evusheld, which includes asking clinicians to advise on the most appropriate option for the NHS in line with all available data, and ministers are considering the advice which has been presented to them.”
Hear hear! Thank you Blood Cancer UK for always being so vocal on our behalf, it is greatly appreciated!
Thank you for this update. I Have Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and am a flute teacher at 2 conservatoires. I am still teaching online, but would feel able to go back to ‘proper’ teaching if I could get Evusheld. I have everything crossed…
Hi @AnnaMaria a welcome to our forum and I can understand your concerns about face to face teaching as a flute teacher.
I also have Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) and have been on watch and wait for 18 years
I look forward to hearing more about you and I hope you find this forum supportive.
Look after yourself
Maybe we should all email him.
I emailed my MP, not for the first time, and asked him to raise our situation once again with the new Health Secretary. I await his reply!
Silence from my MP other than the automatic reply that she’s very busy and will get round to my email eventually - I’m paraphrasing!