Covid: Anger over £1k price tag on drug to protect vulnerable

Steve Harrison had a kidney transplant in December 2020

A Lincolnshire kidney transplant patient has said he is "furious" people with weakened immune systems have to pay £1,000 for a Covid drug.

Evusheld is being offered privately in the UK with a prescription from a clinician.

Steve Harrison, from Gainsborough, said the drug cost "an absolute fortune" and would be unaffordable for those on low incomes.

The government said more data was required on the treatment.

Manufacturer AstraZeneca said the drug would cost £1,000 for a 600mg dose, which would be prescribed by a healthcare professional.

It did not give details of how and where the drug could be obtained.

Mr Harrison, a logistics coordinator, had a kidney transplant in December 2020 and has been shielding for two-and-a-half years because of a suppressed immune system.

He believes Evusheld offers a chance for him to "live a normal life" outside his home.

He said he was "extremely angry" when he found out the drug was being made available at a high cost through a private prescription.

"It's just plain wrong," he said.

"When you find out you can get it, they move the goal post.

"It'll be nice to do what normal people do: go for a meal, go out shopping."

Steve and Donna Harrison said they did not want to continue shielding and living in isolation

However, he has recently caught Covid from his partner, who has also been shielding to help protect him.

Mr Harrison's wife, Donna, said not socialising with friends and family had affected her mental health.

"Steve got a gift of a new life and the problem is we don't know how long that gift is going to last," said Mrs Harrison.

"You can't put a price on life and I'm not prepared to live like this. We can't carry on like this."

She said it was "absolutely disgusting" the drug had come with a huge price tag.

"It feels like Russian roulette," she said.

Mr Harrison added: "It's a gamble. Do we re-join society or carry on doing what we do?

"But I'm concerned that if we keep [shielding] life will pass us by."

People whose immune systems do not respond well to vaccines could benefit from the antibody treatment, campaigners say

The Department of Health and Social Care said it was "urgently exploring" the option of commissioning a clinical trial.

"We are keeping the evidence under close review and NICE have begun their appraisal of Evusheld," it said.

"If they consider the treatment to be clinically and cost effective, it will be made available on the NHS in the usual way."