Your Voice, Your Vote: 'We need Covid drug on NHS'

The impact of Covid-19 on immunocompromised people is of major concern for an East Yorkshire campaigner.

Nikola Brigden, from Hedon, said thousands of people were still shielding from the virus because they were not able to access a Covid-protection drug.

Mrs Brigden, who runs a campaign group calling for Evusheld to be made available on the NHS, said: "It needs looking at and we need action. These people have suffered for too long now - for four years."

She is among the many people who got in touch with the BBC via Your Voice, Your Vote to tell us that the NHS is the most important issue for them in this election.

Mrs Brigden has been campaigning after her husband, Scott Brigden, was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma, a type of blood cancer, in June 2021. He received various chemotherapy treatments and a stem cell transplant four months later.

One of the treatments he was receiving prevented him from forming an antibody response to normal Covid vaccines.

As a result, the couple had been shielding until November 2022, when Mr Brigden had his first Evusheld injection. He pays £1,500 each time he receives the dose every six months.

Evusheld, developed by AstraZeneca, contains two antibodies against Covid that boost protection for those whose immune systems do not respond well to vaccines.

It was approved by the UK regulator, the Medicines Healthcare Regulatory Agency (MHRA), in March 2022. However, five months later the government decided not to buy the medicine.

In February 2023, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) concluded against recommending Evusheld "because there is not enough evidence of its effectiveness against current variants and those likely to be circulating in the next six months".

Mrs Brigden, a chartered surveyor, said they were "very fortunate" in affording to pay for the treatment privately, but there were hundreds of thousands who were not in the same position.

"For most people the pandemic is over, but for this group it isn't," she said.

"A lot of these people have fought through really bad cancer outcomes and are struggling to live day-to-day. To then add the isolation of having to shield, the toll on the mental health of these people is unbelievable.

"We have some really heartbreaking situations. So it is something that really needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency."

The 54-year-old said it had been "really frustrating" living in isolation, but the injections had allowed a relatively normal life to resume. Her husband still takes precautions, such as wearing a mask in certain environments.

Mrs Brigden said she wanted the next government to "prioritise" making Evusheld available on the NHS, as well as providing support to the immunosuppressed population.

The Lib Dems pledged to "develop and implement a post-pandemic strategy" for supporting people who are immunocompromised.

“People with blood cancer, vasculitis, kidney transplants, multiple sclerosis, long- term conditions and rare diseases and those on immunosuppressant drugs are crying out for the preventive drug Evusheld."

The Green Party said: "We acknowledge that NHS budgets need to grow to cover the increasing demands of a growing and ageing population, alongside improved treatment options.

"Offering treatments through the NHS for people with weakened immune systems will form part of our commitment that everybody has access to the healthcare they need, when they need it."

The Conservatives declined to respond.

Labour and Reform UK have both been approached for their responses.

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