Burgess Hill couple call for roll-out of new Covid drug Evusheld after having to shield for two years

Les and Gayle Howard, of Old School Place, said that Evusheld, a prophylactic treatment for Covid, will help them get their lives back.

Gayle, 55, told the Middy she had a kidney transplant in 2018 and takes the anti-rejection medications Mycophenolate and Tacrolimus.

These supress her immune system, meaning the Covid vaccine is ineffective for her.

“It basically means I’ve been shielding since March 2020,” said Gayle. “As restrictions have been lifted I’ve continued shielding because I can’t risk catching Covid. It means that our social life – which had involved going out for dinner, going to the theatre, going to music concerts – has all gone.”

Les, 59, said he had to give up jobs as a field engineer and as a driver because he could not risk bringing Covid home to Gayle.

Gayle said: “We’re sort of prisoners in our own home. We go out walking and try to socialise but all through the winter when it gets cold you can do less of that.”

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) authorised Evusheld, which combines the antibodies tixagevimab and cilgavimab, for treating Covid on March 17 this year.

But in August the government said it would not procure the drug because of ‘insufficient data’ on the protection it could give against Omicron and its subvariants.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is expected to issue a report on Evusheld in April but Gayle and Les said this means ‘another winter of isolation’.

AstraZeneca, who manufactured Evusheld, has said there is ‘ample real-world data’ that the drug works and it is available in 32 countries.

Gayle and Les said they contacted Mid Sussex MP Mims Davies in spring, who told them she would raise the issue with the Department of Health and Social Care.

However, they said they have heard nothing since and would like Mrs Davies to represent them in a Parliament debate about Evusheld on Wednesday, October 12.

“There are 500,000 immunosuppressed or immunocompromised people in the UK,” said Gayle. “If you're one of them it's an important issue.”

Mid Sussex MP Mims Davies said: “I am assured by the DHSC and by speaking to Ministers that they are actively investigating the efficacy of Evusheld against the Omicron variant and a way to build on early indications on this drug. They advise that at present this is not yet fully understood, and the UK Health Security Agency are acting on the points raised by the MHRA who noted that against some SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron, a higher dose might be required, and that the duration of protection that would be provided is unknown.

“As the potential recipients are themselves extremely vulnerable it is all the more vital that these questions are answered before taking a further decision on procuring and distributing Evusheld on the NHS. Those who will rely on this protection must be able to have the absolute confidence in the vaccine, so they know what level and duration of protection they would receive. There will be more evidence released into the public domain very shortly.”

Visit getevusheld.uk.