Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the stock of approved antiviral treatments of COVID-19, including those recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence in August are made readily available to all vulnerable patients.

The stock of COVID-19 antivirals owned by the Department is available to those who are eligible for treatment in line with an interim clinical commissioning policy for England and the Devolved Nations or National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommendations. Stocks are distributed in England in response to orders received from community pharmacies and National Health Service secondary care trusts who operate under arrangements put in place by the relevant NHS Commissioning Boards. Proportionate allocations have been made to the Devolved Nations and detailed distribution arrangements lie within the remit of the respective national systems.