Daisy Cooper, Liberal Democrat MP representing St Albans, spoke in Westminster Hall about the purchase of the anti-covid drug Evusheld.
Previously, the government have said that “the risks of proceeding to patient access for the drug are considered to outweigh the risks of not providing this treatment in the current pandemic context”. Daisy Cooper, however, urges the government not to make the same decision again citing medical evidence that it is safe to use.
She mentions a possible trial that was suggested to the Department of Health. In this trial, vulnerable patients would undergo an anti-bodies test and those who didn’t respond would be enrolled in a drug trial. Some patients would receive a placebo, while others would receive the real thing.
Cooper said that it was “appalling” and like “taking lambs to the slaughter”.
Evusheld ist a “pre-exposure prophylaxis” treatmentIt is taken to prevent COVID-19 before there is a risk of infection. Although it has been used in many countries around the world, there has been some controversy about its safety.
She says that the government “has got this badly wrong” leaving vulnerable “to rot”, as those who have health conditions that make them vulnerable to COVID are about to face another winter of shielding.
Some people who are medically vulnerable are unable to receive the vaccine because of their health conditions or are unable to reap the benefits of the vaccine because of other medications they are taking. They are therefore completely exposed to COVID, and many people have to protect themselves against the risk of contracting it.
Cooper asserts that this outweighs any previous uncertainty regarding safety and assures Westminster Hall, that the MHRA have deemed it absolutely safe.
