Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on the availability of the Pfizer pill for covid-19 on the NHS.

An updated interim clinical commissioning policy on the use of neutralising monoclonal antibody treatments and antivirals for non-hospitalised patients with COVID-19 was agreed by the United Kingdom Chief Medical Officers on 27 January 2022. This set out the intention to add PF-07321332+ritonavir (co-packaged as Paxlovid), manufactured by Pfizer, and remdesivir to the currently available treatment options for highest risk patients with COVID-19 from 10 February 2022.

NHS England has held webinars with stakeholders such as patient organisations, Royal Colleges, professional bodies and clinicians to support the introduction of the interim commissioning policy, with further engagement events and communications planned. Any decisions on deployment of community treatments, including Paxlovid, beyond the highest risk groups will be subject to the outcomes of the PANORAMIC study.