NEW ORLEANS — The Louisiana Department of Health announced Thursday that they are pausing administration of monoclonal antibody treatments also known as (mAb).
The action is due to the Omicron's resistance to the monoclonal antibody therapies.
Monoclonal antibody treatments are a pharmaceutical intervention used to treat people who are infected with the virus that causes COVID-19. It is used to prevent severe illness, hospitalization and death in high-risk patients.
The LDH said sites offered both the REGEN-COV and bamlanivimab and etesevimab treatments together before but were found to not have any effect on the Omicron variant, which officials say is now the dominant variant spreading across the U.S.
Due to the results, the federal government paused further administration of the treatment until an update from the CDC is given.
Louisiana has received a limited supply of another monoclonal antibody treatment called sotrovimab, 228 doses and according to the LDH, it has been effective against the Omicron variant for the prevention of severe disease.
Additional allocations of sotrovimab are expected in January. Limited doses were only given to select hospitals in the state but treatment will be scarce until the new deliveries arrive.
The LDH said they will be ready to reopen sites as supply becomes available.
The following hospitals are expected to receive shipments of sotrovima:
- North Oaks Medical Center, 15790 Paul Vega MD Drive, Hammond
- Ochsner Medical Center, 1514 Jefferson Drive, New Orleans
- Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, 5000 Hennessy Blvd., Baton Rouge
- St. Francis Medical Center, 309 Jackson St., Monroe
- University Medical Center, 2000 Canal St., New Orleans
- Lake Charles Memorial Hospital, 1701 Oak Park Blvd., Lake Charles
Anyone wanting to know if the treatment is appropriate for them should contact their health care provider.