Antiviral treatments are available to the 'Severely Immunosuppressed' a subset of the Clinically Vulnerable who remain at high-risk despite up to 5 vaccine doses.
🧵will cover how Vulnerable groups can access antiviral treatments. 1/
Early antiviral treatment is a vital tool to prevent severe outcomes in high-risk people.
Currently only a small group who have poor immunity following vaccination are allowed to access them.
Please look through this list to see if you qualify:
7. If you are told they only consider patients until day 6 or 7 refer them to this pathway.
By day 6/7 you would be limited to Remdesivir or 'off-label' (where a medicine used in a way different to that in the licence) access to the other treatments.
Weekend access is generally poor. It appears to be a postcode lottery.
We are worried about the availability of services over the upcoming 4 day Bank Holiday weekend.
Some areas will offer treatment on day 6/7, but this is far from optimal.
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8. If you are refused treatment and you do qualify you need to take it further try escalating within the hospital via your specialist team / PALS but be prepared to take it all the way to your local MP if all else fails by day 5.
We have heard that 10-15% of people who DO qualify can access these antiviral treatments.
Put another way, it means 85-90% can't access the antivirals.
We are highly concerned about this number!
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What if you are Clinically Vulnerable/50+ and DON'T qualify on the list?
The only possibility is accessing treatments via the Panoramic trial.
Lots of people can qualify for the trial but only 450 participants are added daily, of which only 225 are given the treatments.
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The demand has been high, due to the current surge.
However, this is currently closed for Easter...
It also appears to close over the weekends.
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The Panoramic trial has a screening process and either your GP, or a study nurse or doctor will assess your eligibility and ask for your consent.
If you do qualify you will have a 50:50 chance of being offered antivirals, which should arrive the next day.
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Even if you don't receive the antivirals you will need answer questions online for 28 days and answer 3 phone calls to discuss with the trial team on days 7, 14 & 28.
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We believe this constitutes health rationing.
Those 75+ should have been added to the antivirals list.
Plus, since treatments are already proven safe and effective for all Clinically Vulnerable / 50+, they should all have #Access2Antivirals through GPs and emergency GPs.
If you value our work at the C○vid Inquiry and beyond, your continued support is vital.
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It is hard to explain how much effort has gone in over the past few years to raise understanding and awareness of issues amplified the emerge of C○vid.
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We have participated in NICE as stakeholders and the inquiry as Core Participants (as the only group representing Clinically Vulnerable people).
📉📊 We have collected evidence as data and thousands of 💬 impact statements from people.
Their response dodges the point.
Because the problem really wasn’t that “I didn’t get the joke”.
The problem is who the joke is aimed at and what it encourages most people to laugh at.
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If the punchline is “PPE / precautions = anxious / ridiculous” then people who still need precautions (Clinically Vulnerable people) are the collateral damage.
We need to talk about the new @Dawn_French “comedy” series that implies that infection control is a joke.
This is a serious issue, particularly for Clinically Vulnerable people who remain at increased risk, and we are not laughing. 1/
In the first episode, a GP appears in a dramatic “protective outfit” and face shield, and we’re told it’s because “since Covid” they’ve developed “very, very, very bad health anxiety.”
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Then the doctor refuses to get close to the patient, barely touches a wrist, and incorrectly declares them dead.
It invites audiences to mock precautions (during the current flu wave) and suggests that doctors who take measures are less competent.
🧵 This autumn the UKHSA is rightly worried, as 'flu is a real risk...
TLDR:
Clinically Vulnerable people ALL need 'flu vaccines + antivirals this year (if symptomatic or exposed) + confused infection control guidance.
If you are Clinically Vulnerable, please read on...
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This year's strains aren't looking good:
The infections have started earlier.
A(H3N2) strains are dominant - and linked to worse outcomes.
A shifted strain (slightly different to vaccines) is also doing the rounds.
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If you have been invited for a vaccine, or live with a Clinically Vulnerable person (but don't qualify) please consider getting a vaccine - they can be as cheap as £9.95.
Everyone benefits from 'flu vaccines and children (up to 16) are offered them for free in school.