Husband of immunosuppressed woman from Burgess Hill attends Parliament Square vigil with Mid Sussex MP to call for rollout of Covid drug

Les Howard, 59, was at the Forgotten 500k event on Wednesday, October 26, alongside Mid Sussex MP Mims Davies and dozens of others, to call for a UK rollout of preventative Covid-19 drug Evusheld.

Les previously spoke to the Middy with his wife Gayle, 55.

They explained that Gayle takes anti-rejection medications, which supress her immune system and make the Covid vaccine ineffective for her.

After the vigil he said: “I stood in for Gayle. Many other family members represented their loved ones and came from all over the UK. Some people took a very real risk to their health and represented themselves because they are desperate.”

He said the event was organised by members of Evusheld for the UK and backed by charities like Blood Cancer UK. It represented 500,000 people across Britain who cannot be protected by the Covid vaccine.

Les and Gayle believe Evusheld will give them their lives back after being ‘prisoners’ in their home since March 2020.

Les said: “The government need to step up and do the right thing for the immunosuppressed. It’s more cost effective to prevent than to cure and I think the immunosuppressed have suffered enough.”

He said the vigil was supported by Lord Mendelsohn, MP Daisy Cooper and MP Tim Loughton.

“I was very pleased Mims Davies MP came over to support Gayle and me,” said Les.

Mims Davies told the Middy: “It was a pleasure to greet Les on his important trip to highlight his wife, Gayle’s, needs and the vulnerability of some patients. I pay tribute to all the constituents and campaigners who came to meet their MPs from across the land to showcase the breadth of views of those who need unique support and help as we go into winter.

“I have been engaging with ministers on this matter and making sure my constituents’ voices are heard so they can move on from the pandemic too. Meanwhile I urge all those eligible to take up their Covid boosters so they have the antibodies needed to help them get through winter and also to take up a flu jab where eligible.”

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency authorised Evusheld on March 17 but in August the government said it would not procure the drug because of ‘insufficient data’ on the protection it could give against Omicron. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is not expected to issue a report on Evusheld until April.

Dr Lennard Lee, an academic medical oncologist from Oxford University, is urging the Government to rethink this decision, backed by 120 scientists and clinicians.

He highlighted the Middy’s previous article about Les and Gayle on Twitter, saying: “They are still shielding, there’s 500,000 of them, they can’t see family or hugged loved ones. They want to be protected from being hospitalised, ending up in intensive care or not recovering from COVID-19. They want it by Christmas.”