Am I eligible for an antibody treatment? Coast hospitals limit infusions as omicron spikes
As the omicron variant continues to surge, monoclonal antibody infusions are no longer available for most COVID patients at top Mississippi Gulf Coast hospitals with the drug limited to those at risk of dying from the virus.
The lifesaving COVID treatment widely used on the Coast is in low supply across the state, which trickles down to Singing River Health System, Memorial at Gulfport and Merit Health Biloxi.
The Coast hospitals have narrowed the criteria for monoclonal treatment use to Mississippi State Department of Health recommendations that the infusions only be offered to patients at highest risk, like those 65 or older or who have chronic medical issues.
“Since supply is low, the criteria to receive the infusion is no longer everyone over age 12 who tests positive for COVID-19,” said Singing River Health System spokesperson Sarah Duffey. “Instead, infusions are only recommended for those who meet the original criteria when they first became available.”
Qualifications now include being 65 years or older, overweight with a body mass index of 35 or higher, immunocompromised, pregnant, having diabetes or a number of other disorders.
“We have a very limited supply of monoclonal antibodies that are made available to us,” State Medical Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs said during a recent press conference.
“This week, we were allocated less than 900 doses of monoclonal antibodies. And if you consider the tens of thousands of cases we’ve had, you can see there’s a severe disparity between demand and supply.”
The federal government allocates infusion supply weekly, according to Dobbs, who said he’s unsure of how much supply the state will receive in coming weeks.
“The hospital continues to receive a small allocation of monoclonal antibodies from the state and we are following state guidelines for their administration,” Merit spokesperson Amy Bowman.
The drug is allocated immediately from the Federal distributor to locations throughout the state, Dobbs said. The Centers of Excellence partners, including George County Hospital, Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, Singing River Health System, are asked to triage the treatment to patients most in need.
“It is an incredible burden. I understand that. But you know, it’s in the doctor’s hands that the best decisions can be made,” Dobbs said.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, Singing River Gulfport, Merit Health Biloxi, Ocean Springs Hospital Pharmacy in Ocean Springs, Ocean Springs Hospital Pharmacy in Pascagoula, Burnhams Vital Care in Moss Point and Highland Community Hospital in Picayune as the South Mississippi locations that have received shipments of COVID therapeutics.
“The federal government controls the distribution of monoclonal antibodies to each state. The nationwide shortages are also being felt at Memorial,” said Advanced Practice Manager Kristian Spear. “At this time, all previously distributed monoclonal antibodies have been allocated.”
State short on monoclonal antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies, or mAbs, are made in a laboratory to fight a particular infection, based on natural antibodies against COVID-19, according to the Mississippi State Department of Health. The antibodies block the virus’ attachment and entry into human cells.
Sotrovimab is said to work best against the omicron variant, while Bamlanivimab, etesevimab and Regeneron do not work well in fighting the new strain, which now accounts for the majority of cases in the state.
From a Friday call with the Food and Drug Administration, Dobbs said Mississippi received about 300 doses of one of the effective monoclonal treatments. Meanwhile, COVID numbers have spiked across the state, consistently hitting record breaking numbers of infection.
While COVID numbers swelled during the delta wave earlier this year, Mississippi led the nation in the use of monoclonal antibody infusions per capita.
“In Mississippi, we did a really good job using monoclonal antibodies during the Delta surge,” Dobbs said.
“And we saved thousands of hospitalizations and I don’t know, 800 lives. Omicron is not susceptible to the ones that they’ve used mostly and have most supplies of. So that’s a challenge.”
Boosters, vaccinations still first defense
Monoclonal antibody infusions have long been considered a “plan B” option for fighting COVID, after vaccination as the best way to prevent the virus. Monoclonals should not be used instead of getting a COVID vaccine, Dobbs said, especially during the shortages.
Vaccination rates in Mississippi remain some of the lowest in the country as omicron spreads.
Currently, 49% of Mississippians have received both shots, with Harrison County at 44%, and Jackson County at 43% and Hancock at 35%. Sixty-two percent of the country is fully vaccinated and 33% are boosted. Thirty-one percent of Mississippi is boosted.
Vaccinations haven’t been significantly increasing across the state since the start of the fifth wave, health officials say, but there has been some increases in booster numbers.
The omicron variant is best avoided when fully vaccinated with a booster shot, experts say. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend a booster for anyone 12 and above who has received the Pfizer vaccine.
“The booster makes all the difference in the world when it comes to omicron,” Dobbs said. “We’ve seen how phenomenally useful that is in protecting people from becoming ill and also having severe illness…Only 2% of the deaths we’ve seen in the past month, are related to folks who have been boosted.”
This article is supported by the Journalism and Public Information Fund, a fund of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
This story was originally published January 10, 2022 at 1:45 PM.
