Hi, I have Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) but no symptoms. I attend my local hospital once a year for a checkup and have blood samples taken by my GP and sent to the hospital mid way between appointments. I also received a letter from the Scottish Government with a phone number to contact should I test positive with a Lateral Flow test in order to assess my suitability for one the the new coronavirus treatments which I believe would be Paxlovid.
I would like to visit my daughter for the first time for 3 years in Zimbabwe later this year and would like to purchase Paxlovid to take with me as an additional precaution. The hospital and GP say it can only be prescribed after testing positive for Covid. Does anyone know if it is possible to get a private prescription from a reputable source?
A great big welcome @Alan_Cairns and a very good question.
I believe others might be able to help you and I will copy your questions to the Blood Cancer UK nurse advisors @GemmaBloodCancerUK and @LauranBloodCancerUK.
I really do help you get to see your daughter after so long.
I look forward to hearing more about you.
Look after yourself and take care.
We’re in a similar situation; in our case we are keen to go in a cruise again but the thought of not being able to access antivirals if needed is really putting us off. So instead we have booked a cottage in Cornwall!
A couple of things have given me a bit of hope though. Firstly, friends have just come back from a different cruise line and apparently the husband WAS offered antivirals when he tested positive - so I’m hoping that might become the norm. Secondly, someone on a different website was told that responsibility for administering these treatments would be passing to GPs in the autumn … so maybe a sympathetic doctor would be prepared to issue a prescription to cover a holiday eventually??? We can but hope🙂
Hi @Alan_Cairns , A very warm welcome to our forum. I do hope you have found some support from our community members. You ask a really good question and it is one we have been asked often.
In case it is helpful, our webpage below under the heading of Wanting to Travel and go on holiday around half way down this page talks through steps that are important when leaving your own country & guidelines- Antibody and antiviral treatments for people with blood cancer | Blood Cancer UK.
Unfortunately we understand that Paxlovid or indeed any other covid treatment cannot be purchased/prescribed in advanced as an assessment is required at point of contracting covid before a definitive decision of best treatment if ay is agreed.
With your daughter having the local knowledge and advantage of living in Zimbabwe is she able inform you of the local process for those who contract covid?
Should you wish to talk things through please do know our support line is indeed only ever a phone call away Alan- 0808 2080 888.
Do you know whether this is still the case please?
I saw that Evusheld was made available on private prescriptions in October after a lot of resistance but as it’s a preventative measure, i’m not sure whether it’s comparable…
Hi @Raza welcome to our forum and I will copy your post to all the Blood Cancer UK nurses for you @BloodCancerUK_Nurses for you.
If you need to talk to anyone the Blood Cancer UK support line is there for you on 0808 2080 888
I look forward to hearing more about you, look after yourself.
Hi @Raza,
Welcome to the forum. Thank you for your question. I hope you’re keeping okay?
Am i correct in thinking that you are keen to understand if paxlovid can be purchased privately?
If so- it is our understanding that this is not available as previous posts in this thread have explained.
It is indeed as you have suggested, only Evusheld as a prophylactic measure that can be purchased from private healthcare clinics here in the UK.
You can read more about Evusheld and what we know here- Evusheld available in the UK to buy privately | Blood Cancer UK.
Do also feel free to contact our support line at anytime Raza if you have any questions- 0808 2080 888.