Creative agencies The&Partnership and mSix&Partners have teamed up to raise awareness of a new campaign launched today which aims to support the so-called ‘Forgotten 500k’ who remain shielding from the COVID pandemic, despite all restrictions being lifted in March this year.
The campaign aims to highlight the very real threat that COVID still poses to 500,000 immunocompromised people across the UK, whose weakened immune systems means that they are less likely to respond well to vaccines and as such need alternative treatments.
One such alternative treatment is the antiviral drug Evusheld, developed by pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca. The drug is however currently unavailable on the NHS, despite having already been approved in 32 countries globally.
The group behind the campaign, Evusheld for the UK believes that drug will be able to significantly improve the life quality of the immunosuppressed as COVID rates invevitably begin to rise as winter approaches.
With a creative handled by The&Partnership on a pro-bono basis and media planned by mSix&Partners, the 360 campaign will be pushed out across a variety of mediums, beginning with a national advertising campaign launching today (17 October), followed by podcasts and guest speaker events.
Provocative out-of-home activations will also be launched, including an advertising van driving around Westminster with a ‘powerful message’ and a silent vigil in Parliament Square attended by friends and family of the ‘Forgotten 500k’.
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“The clinically vulnerable of the United Kingdom were promised protection,” Evusheld for the UK member, Professor Martin Eve, PhD said.
“Instead, they have been abandoned and forgotten. While the rest of the world takes care of its immunocompromised using Evusheld, the UK delays without delivering.
He continued: “Our patients need protection now and the current government schedule is just not good enough. Our members lead intolerably restricted lives, will suffer the mental health effects of 1,000 days of isolation for years to come, and are dying at much higher rates than the general population with Covid-19.
“The Secretary of State for Health has a clear answer: procure Evusheld, protect the vulnerable, and alleviate pressure on the NHS.”
Blood Cancer UK CEO, Gemma Peters added: “Over one in 100 people with blood cancer have died of Covid, and many thousands more are continuing to experience the mental health burden of trying to avoid it.
“There is good reason to believe Evusheld would give significant protection to our community, and so the Government’s refusal to make it available is missing the chance to do something that would both help keep them safe and get back to their normal lives.
She concluded: “In doing this, the Government is insisting on a level of certainty for Evusheld that goes far beyond the level of certainty it needed before it bought the original vaccines in 2020, and is letting down immunocompromised people.”
