I don't know how many people watched this this morning. Daisy Cooper made a brilliant case on behalf of 500,000 immune compromised people, supported by many other MPs, but Robert Jenrick the Minister of State for Health since last month, responded with a prepared speech which failed to address most of the anomalies concerning how differently this drug is being assessed compared to the vaccines and some other Covid treatments and how differently we are being treated compared to the rest of the population of UK, all of which Daisy and others had raised.
His only concession was that he had asked NICE to speed up its consideration of Evusheld's efficacy, currently due next April. He talked about an impending trial which will require many of us to visit our hospital with the chance that we will receive a placebo, and as, if we have any sense ,we will continue to shield, what will that prove.
Uplifting to know we have a great deal of support from MPs, depressing to know we have an uncaring and disingenuous government.
Roger
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RogerPinner
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The XBB strain, a new COVID iteration driving cases in Singapore, may be the most immune-evasive yet.
What is XBB? The new ‘immune-evasive’ COVID strain that combines Omicron variants is driving cases in two countries.
New variants of the rapidly mutating coronavirus are still popping up around the world, and a new iteration of COVID on the rise in Asia may be the most immune-evasive yet.
The XBB strain is causing a small surge in cases in countries like Bangladesh and Singapore. The latter has recorded a daily average of about 5,500 cases over the past week, compared to a daily average of 2,000 cases a month ago.
Experts are also concerned that monoclonal antibody treatments might be less effective against newer variants like XBB and BA.2.75.2. “We’ve not seen this type of immune evasion before,” Michael Osterholm, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy.
Hi thank you for the update on new variants being found, as yet outside of the U.K. if I read your post correctly.
It’s always good to keep abreast of what may be on our horizon. However, I think you may have missed the point of the debate. The debate sought to highlight the fact that the immunosuppressed in the U.K. have had no respite from shielding since the pandemic began in 2020 as a direct result of our governments failure to provide evusheld. Receiving evusheld would privide us with more immunity than we have now, the same level of immunity that those who respond to the general COVID vaccines get.
We are not looking for perfection and of course with or without evusheld we have to be careful.
In the U.K. we are seeking to get the same protection as those who produce antibodies to the general covid vaccines, which don’t proved 100% protection either. It’s likely they will not cover the new varients you speak of either.
My concern after reading your post is that our government may well use the data about new variants to justify keeping evusheld from us here in the U.K.!!! God forbid.
I for one would be happy to receive evusheld and worry about future varients as they arrive.
Dick, I was aware that it is suspected that Evusheld may not be as effective against the new variants as it has been against the earlier ones, but I didn't know about XBB, something else to worry about. Of course there is no point in having a prophylactic in the future that doesn't work, but that makes it more frustrating that the govt. didn't approve it earlier when it might/would have been effective. Maybe during the past summer I might have been braver with my family, children and grandchildren.
I wonder how effective the new Moderna vaccine will be against the new varient(s) or whether the country is in for another miserable winter healthwise as well as everything else.
I saw you note about Inside Health....thanks for that.
Sorry Dick, I can't agree. Nothing's 100% but if it's OK for the French, the Americans, the Israelis and 25+ other countries, it's OK with me. We all took the vaccines when they were largely unproved, we submit ourselves to trials when there is no alternative, and this drug was approved 6 months ago by our own MHRA ; we shouldn't have to wait any longer.
I saw the debate Roger and agree despite the great case put forward by Daisy Cooper and others Jenericks response was disappointing and provided little hope for any swift turnaround, just more delay.
Evusheld for the UK who are fighting on our behalf deserve credit for the work they have done and ongoing work as do the charities involved in our behalf.
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