West Virginia’s interagency COVID task force is trying to determine how it will manage an already short supply of antibody COVID treatments when the omicron variant spikes demand soon. The Kanawha-Charleston Health Department was down to two doses of monoclonal antibody treatment Wednesday morning with another shipment of 50 somewhere on the way.
There is a nationwide shortage of antibody treatments that is expected to get worse with the spread of the omicron variant. Antibody treatments are given in the early stage of COVID and can be effective in keeping cases from getting worse and taking the pressure off the hospitals. Since the health department started their out-of-hospital antibody treatments in Kanawha County, WCHS TV said they’ve treated more than 400 since Sept. 17th. The COVID task force continues to urge the public to use a more effective approach with no supply issues. That’s vaccination and boosters.