Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Kamall on 12 April 2022 (HL7711), given the data referred to, what update they can provide on (1) evidence of immune response in immunocompromised and immunosuppressed patients, and (2) the size of the cohort of people who do not produce antibodies from vaccines.

The National Health Service estimates approximately 500,000 patients in England are immunosuppressed. A minority of these patients may not respond adequately to vaccines and could potentially benefit from pre-exposure prophylaxis. The OCTAVE study found that 11% of immunocompromised patients fail to generate antibodies following vaccination and 40% mounted a low serological response.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is conducting a Health Technology Evaluation of Evusheld, which will provide guidance on the use of Evusheld within the NHS. Part of this evaluation will include consideration of the cohorts that could benefit if NICE recommends its use as a pre-exposure prophylactic. This evaluation is in development with publication expected in spring 2023.