A 78-year-old woman has found herself isolated and unable to leave her home after the only Covid-19 vaccine she could safely receive was withdrawn from the NHS booster programme.
Diana Tasker, from Scarborough, is allergic to both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and had previously been given the Novavax booster as an alternative. However, when she attempted to book her spring booster, she was informed that Novavax had been discontinued in favor of more “cost-effective” vaccines.
“I should have had a vaccine this spring,” Ms. Tasker said. “But when I rang Castle Health Centre to book it, they told me the government had stopped Novavax and they were only making Pfizer and Moderna available. I had no problems with this alternative vaccine at all.”
Dr. Mary Ramsay, head of public health programmes at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), stated that new guidance had been issued for patients with mRNA vaccine allergies. These patients are now to be seen by an expert allergist and vaccinated in a hospital under clinical supervision. For Ms. Tasker, this means receiving a Pfizer or Moderna booster in a hospital setting, where she would be monitored for any adverse reactions.
However, Ms. Tasker is also allergic to adrenaline, the standard treatment for anaphylactic shock, making the hospital vaccination option potentially dangerous. “I would never go against my doctor’s advice,” she said.
Since April, Ms. Tasker has written to about 30 people and organizations, seeking answers and a solution to her predicament. “I have been trying since April to find out where I could get a vaccine and why it has been denied to me,” she told the BBC. “I’ve now got a folder full of letters to all the different departments, very few of which replied, and nobody has given me an answer as to why they have stopped an excellent system.”
Without a viable booster option, Ms. Tasker has chosen to self-isolate, fearing the risks of contracting Covid-19 without adequate protection. “It’s worse than a prison sentence because with a prison sentence, you know how long you’ve got in captivity,” she lamented. “We don’t know how long it will be before we can get this put right.”
Ms. Tasker has already missed spending time outdoors during the previous four summers due to health issues, including cancer and heart problems. She had hoped this summer would be different. “I love to go swimming and hear our Scarborough Spa Orchestra,” she said. “Just the sheer freedom of going and meeting friends and socializing, I don’t know when or if I’ll be able to do it again.”
The retired teacher, who has previously campaigned to protect local buildings such as the Scarborough Spa and the Futurist Theatre, is now focusing her efforts on reinstating the Novavax booster. “I’ve worked on other campaigns throughout my life and I thought I’d retired from them,” Ms. Tasker said. “But this campaign is the most important of the lot because this one is dealing with people’s lives. I’m not going to give up and I’m not going to go away.”
Ms. Tasker’s story highlights the struggles faced by individuals with specific health needs during the ongoing pandemic and calls attention to the need for inclusive healthcare solutions that address the needs of all patients.