“A monoclonal antibody is a laboratory-made protein that mimics your body’s immune system’s ability to fight off harmful viruses and bacteria that can cause disease,” explained the Tennessee Dept. of Health. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a monoclonal antibody treatment developed by Regeneron for emergency use.
Patients who already have COVID-19 can be treated with monoclonal antibodies through an injection. Treatments last for around a half hour and require around an hour of observation. For unvaccinated people, the treatment can reduce the risk of hospitalization by 70 percent, according to the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
On the other hand, the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, which has full FDA approval, is around 93 percent effective at preventing infection altogether, said Yale Medicine. It even has a 96 percent chance at preventing hospitalizations for those infected with the highly contagious Delta variant. The Moderna vaccine has a 95 percent efficacy rate against severe illness and the Johnson & Johnson vaccine has a 86 percent efficacy rate against severe illness.
However, some fully vaccinated people do develop severe breakthrough cases.
Tennessee Dept. of Health Commissioner Dr. Lisa Piercey said the state’s decision to recommend limits on monoclonal antibody treatments could be unpopular.
“Clinically, it makes sense,” Piercey said Friday, according to The Tennessean reported. “But the doctor in me thinks about all these ‘what ifs?’ What if there is a super-high-risk older person, but they are not technically considered immunocompromised? Do they not get it but a 22-year-old unvaccinated person with asthma – they get it?”
Per Tennessee’s recommendations vaccinated people who are immunocompromised will also be eligible for the treatment, Piercey said.
Tennessee, which is following the guidance of the National Institutes of Health, according to NBC News, appears to be the first state to recommend limiting monoclonal antibody treatment to the unvaccinated and immunocompromised.
“What the state is doing is putting the highest risk patients first in line,” Dr. Karen Bloch of Vanderbilt University Medical Center said, according to NBC. “And not having a vaccine does place one at a higher risk of dying from COVID. So identifying those most at risk makes sense.”
Last week the Present Joe Biden’s administration and informed state officials it would start capping shipments of monoclonal antibody treatments.
“Our supply is not unlimited,” White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “And we believe it should be equitable across states across the country.”
In recent months, 70 percent of the country’s supply has gone to seven Southern states: Alabama, Florida, Texas, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and Louisiana, said NBC. Out of the seven, all but Louisiana are led by Republicans who have not enforced any COVID-19 vaccination mandates.
“The recent increase in COVID-19 cases has caused a substantial rise in the utilization of monoclonal antibody drugs, particularly in areas of the country with low vaccination rates,” Dr. Daniel Skovronsky, Eli Lilly and Company’s chief scientific and medical officer, said in a recent statement.
As of Tuesday, the Mayo Clinic estimates that around 44.1 percent of Tennessee residents are fully vaccinated. Only seven states have lower vaccination rates.
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