Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the announcement on 12 August 2022 that Government will not be procuring any doses of Evusheld at this time, what assessment was made during the decision making process of the relevance of the data published on 29 July 2022 in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases which showed that immunocompromised individuals administered with that drug were 92% less likely to be hospitalized or die than those who did not receive it.

The Government has decided not to procure Evusheld at this present time for prevention through emergency routes at this time. This is based on independent clinical advice by the multi-agency RAPID C-19 and a national expert policy working group. These groups considered a range of evidence, including clinical trial data, in vitro analysis and emerging observational studies, including the study published on 29 July 2022 and concluded there is currently insufficient evidence of benefit against Omicron variants to recommend deployment. The Chief Medical Officer for England is content that the correct process for providing clinical advice has been followed and that this should now be referred to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for further evaluation.