Paxlovid and clinically vulnerable patients

That this House calls on the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to reject the request from NHS England to delay the roll-out of Covid antiviral treatment Paxlovid; further calls for the additional funds and resources necessary to be provided to NHS England to ensure this treatment reaches all recommended patients this winter; notes with grave concern that a 12 month delay would deny treatment to an estimated 10 million patients at high and moderate risk of hospitalisation and death from Covid-19 infection; further notes the lack of any government strategy to support the immuno-compromised to live with covid; regrets that this request comes at a time when the National Health Service is likely to face unprecedented seasonal pressures with 80% of NHS leaders expecting this winter’s capacity crisis to be more extreme than last year; recognises the alleviatory impact that such antivirals will have in reducing hospital admissions; censures the request as out of step with the 10 November 2023 update to World Health Organisation guidance which strongly recommends Paxlovid for high risk groups; notes that a decision to delay access to life-saving treatment has potential wider implications for patient access to future innovations; and is astounded that such a recommendation would be considered appropriate when the Department for Health and Social Care already holds a stockpile of this drug, of which more than half would expire and have to be destroyed during the period between 30 November 2023 and 29 February 2024.