Shielding Burgess Hill couple dismayed as Covid drug Evusheld not recommended by NICE

On February 16 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence issued draft guidance for public consultation not recommending Evusheld for the prevention of Covid in adults who either cannot be vaccinated or who are unlikely to have an adequate immune response to vaccination.

Les and Gayle Howard, of Old School Place, previously told the Middy that Evusheld, which is a prophylactic treatment for Covid, would help them get their lives back.

After the latest news Les said: “We and all the other #forgotten500K are now entering our fourth year of living a life less normal.”

Gayle, who is in her 50s, had a kidney transplant in 2018 and takes the anti-rejection medications Mycophenolate and Tacrolimus. These drugs supress her immune system, making the Covid vaccine ineffective for her. As a result, she has had to shield since March 2020, while the vast majority of society has returned to normal. She has described her and her husband's situation as being like ‘prisoners in our own home’.

Les said the government has failed to provide adequate protection to people in Gayle’s position. He said: “So far we have had no real movement from the government because politically it does not suit their cause to accept this problem exists.”

Les had previously given up jobs as a field engineer and as a driver because he could not risk bringing Covid home to Gayle.

A NICE spokesperson said: “Evusheld is not recommended for vulnerable adults who are at high risk of severe Covid-19 because there is not enough evidence of its effectiveness against current variants and those likely to be circulating in the next six months.”

NICE said the draft guidance comes after a decision on January by the US drug regulator to withdraw its emergency use authorisation for Evusheld, as they said there was ‘insufficient evidence that Evusheld is effective against the dominant variants of Covid-19 in the US’.

Les and Gayle want the government to act faster in authorising drugs like Evusheld and have written to Mid Sussex MP Mims Davies. Mims Davies has been approached for comment.