Blood cancer and transplant patients are calling on the Scottish Government to reconsider its refusal to buy a Covid protection for those not responding to vaccines.
There is a growing campaign to get Evusheld, a preventative Covid treatment, fast-tracked for the immunocompromised.
But the UK Government has decided not to fast-track it like it did with the vaccines.
One patient, Jackie Macdonald has hidden herself away since the first Covid lockdown because she has a type of blood cancer which makes her vulnerable to infection.
Jackie, a mum of three from Edinburgh, was diagnosed with blood cancer, myeloma, and AL amyloidosis – an abnormality of a type of white blood cell in the bone marrow related to myeloma – in 2014.
Myeloma is incurable but can go into remission for long periods.
Jackie relapsed in 2021, which led to more chemotherapy and a stem cell transplant which wiped out her immunity from all diseases.
Over the next few years, she will need vaccines for childhood conditions like measles, mumps, rubella and diptheria.
But her biggest fear is catching Covid which, in her weakened state, could be fatal. She said: “Covid meant a loss of independence for me.
“During the first lockdown, our three children were at home. Either they or my husband did the shopping. I was stuck at home and the role I had on caring for my kids was reversed.
It is not only Jackie’s life which has been affected – her husband and children have had to take precautions as well. Her two youngest turned 21 in January but twins Jamie and Aileas didn’t get a party.
She said: “We had arranged something for about a dozen people.
“But with the new variant we couldn’t take the chance of even that.
“It is not only my world which has got smaller.”
Jackie’s husband Patrick works mainly from home to protect her.
She said: “Evusheld would definitely give me more confidence that I could finally get out of lockdown.
“It seems the Scottish Government is just following the UK Government on this but all along, during Covid, Scotland has taken different decisions to England and Wales so why is this any different? It seems like a cop-out.
“My lockdown started a long time ago and it is not quite finished.
“Evusheld would mean my life would not be quite so small as it has been for years now.”
The drug will have to go through a drugs approval process which could mean it may not be available until 2023 – forcing many to stay isolated.
The Department of Health said it would not be buying doses of Evusheld because of a lack of evidence on how it works against the Omicron variant.
Manufacturer AstraZeneca already sells it to 32 countries including the United States, Canada and parts of the EU.
In clinical Evusheld trials, some held in the UK, adults showed a 77 per cent reduction in the risk of developing Covid symptoms for at least six months after one dose.
But the government wants evidence of longer protection against Omicron because the trials concluded before the arrival of the variant.
With the NHS already under pressure and a possible new Covid wave predicted this winter, the news has come as a blow to people suffering from blood cancers like Scotland’s 2000 myeloma patients.
Dr Sophie Castell, chief executive at Myeloma UK, said: “The lack of clarity around the process for procuring and delivering preventative treatments, such as Evusheld, highlights the need for a proper joined-up approach, especially ahead of the pressures that winter will bring for the NHS.
“For many myeloma patients, the pandemic is not over.
“Evusheld has already been rolled out to other countries and could help protect clinically extremely vulnerable people in Scotland and the UK.
“We need governments to be on the front foot, horizon-scanning and procuring new preventative treatments like Evusheld.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Throughout the pandemic, a four-nations approach to the procurement of Covid-19 treatments has been taken to secure significant numbers of therapeutics.
“The Scottish Government is closely monitoring the outcome of further research to ensure that any decisions to make Evusheld available to patients in Scotland in the future are based on the best available evidence.”
Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond - Sign up to our daily newsletter here.
