Hard-hit states eager for COVID-19 antibody drug
Demand soars for therapies in areas with spiking cases
People infected with COVID-19 were captured in a photo this week lying on the floor in pain while waiting for antibody infusions at a treatment site set up inside the library in Jacksonville, Florida.
The image has become a vivid illustration of the huge demand for the once-neglected COVID-19 drugs in the states hit hardest by a summer surge of infections being driven by the highly contagious delta variant.
“They were moaning and obviously in a lot of pain. They were miserable,” said Louie Lopez, who shot the photograph as he waited for more than two hours to receive the treatment.
Antibody treatments remain one of a handful of therapies that can blunt the worst effects of COVID-19, and they are the only option available to people with mild-to-moderate cases who aren’t yet in the hospital.
They have risen in demand in states seeing a spike in infections, including Florida, Louisiana and Texas, where hospitalizations among the unvaccinated are overwhelming the health care system.
White House officials reported recently that federal shipments of the drugs increased fivefold last month to nearly 110,000 doses, with the vast majority going to states with low vaccination rates.
“They are safe, they are free, they keep people out of the hospital and help keep them alive,” said Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, a senior adviser to the White House’s COVID-19 response team.
The main drug in use is Regeneron’s dual-antibody cocktail, which has been purchased in mass quantities by the U.S. government. It’s the same drug former President Donald Trump received when he was hospitalized with COVID19 last October.
The drugs are laboratory-made versions of virus-blocking antibodies that help fight off infections. The treatments help the patient by supplying concentrated doses of one or two antibodies.
The drugs are only recommended for people at the highest risk of progressing to severe COVID-19, but regulators have slowly broadened who can qualify. The list of conditions now includes older age, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, pregnancy and more than a halfdozen other issues.
With expanded eligibility and skyrocketing caseloads across the country, more people are getting the treatments.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who this week tested positive for the virus and is himself receiving the treatments, said five state-run COVID-19 antibody infusion centers opened last week and that another four would open by Monday. At least 140 providers across Texas are offering the antibodies treatment, his office said.
To be effective, the drugs are supposed to be given within 10 days of initial symptoms. That’s the time frame in which they have been shown to cut rates of hospitalization and death by roughly 70%.
Medical experts agreed that the drugs should not be seen as the first line of defense against the virus or a substitute for wearing a mask and getting vaccinated.
“I see the monoclonal antibodies as a short-term bridge to get us to the point where enough people are fully vaccinated,” said Dr. James Cutrell of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. “We definitely need to keep vaccinating as many people as possible.”
Joyce Wachsmuth, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and her husband were infected with COVID-19 in January. A breast cancer survivor, she had never felt so much pain.
“I actually thought to myself if 10 days of this is what COVID people go through, I don’t know if I want to live,” she said.
When doctors at the local Mayo Clinic told the 67-year-old that she and her 70-year-old husband were prime candidates for experimental drug treatment, she jumped at the opportunity.
She said she felt relief just two hours after the one-hour drip treatment.
“It did wonders. It kept us off the hospital and off the ventilators,” said Wachsmuth, who has since been vaccinated.
The federal government has been distributing monoclonal antibody drugs to the states since last winter, but the treatments were underused due to lack of awareness from physicians, low interest among the public and the logistics of setting up areas to give them to patients via IV infusion.
Also, persistent testing delays meant many people didn’t even get their results for seven days or longer, and clinics were focused on the upcoming vaccines or managing the winter surge of cases.
Since then, many cities have set up alternative locations to administer the drugs and offer vaccines. The treatments are free for most patients, largely because the federal government has been actively involved in securing and distributing them.