Covid still a risk to vulnerable people – Essex matron says

Joe Hall, 44, from Brentwood, Essex, was one of more than 4,000 people who has received anti-viral drugs from the clinic.

He is vulnerable to infection after he had a kidney transplant. He regularly takes immunosuppressants so his body does not reject his new kidney, which means his immune system is not as strong.

Mr Hall shielded in his flat for three months during the pandemic, but he caught the virus in July.

He said he woke up with a scratchy throat and aching all over, so he called 111 and they put him in touch with the Covid clinic in Billericay.

Mr Hall said the intravenous anti-viral medication started to work quickly and by the following day he woke up feeling “a huge amount better”.

“I dread to think what would happen if I didn’t have the treatment,” he said.

“It takes away a lot of the worry… I can go out and about and I know if I catch Covid, it won’t be so severe, and for me, that’s huge mentally.”

Mr Hall said that vulnerable people could not “shield forever” and said the vaccine and availability of anti-viral drugs provided him with an “extra barrier”.