Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is considering prophylactic use of antivirals for the immunocompromised to protect those people from covid-19.
The Department continues to consider the prophylactic use of antivirals for the immunocompromised. The RAPID C-19 collaboration has enabled multi-agency oversight of national and international trial evidence as it emerges for COVID-19 therapies, in potential treatment and prophylactic indications. The evidence has strongly supported treatment use, although the evidence on prophylactic use will continue to be reviewed.
Later this spring, there will be a post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) sub-study as part of the PANORAMIC national study, which will investigate the effect of prescribing oral antivirals to those who are a household contact of a COVID-19 positive individual. In addition, the PROTECT-V study is trialling sotrovimab and niclosamide as prophylactic drugs administered over a six-month period in vulnerable renal and immunosuppressed patients.