Demand is low for COVID-19 antibody drugs but shortages loom
Dec. 19, 2020 at 5:00 am
Marilynn Marchione, AP Chief Medical Writer
U.S. health officials are seeing an astonishing lack of demand for COVID-19 medicines that may help keep infected people out of the hospital, drugs they rushed out to states over the past few weeks as deaths set new records.
Red tape, staff shortages, testing delays and strong skepticism are keeping many patients and doctors from these drugs, which supply antibodies to help the immune system fight the coronavirus. Only 5% to 20% of doses the federal government allocated have been used.
Ironically, government advisers met Wednesday and Thursday to plan for the opposite problem: potential future shortages of the drug as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. Many hospitals have set up lottery systems to ration what is expected to be a limited supply, even after taking into account the unused medicines still on hand.
Sentinel photo by BRIAN COX
The Geisinger-Lewistown Hospital sign above the emergency room entrance is lit up green for Christmas Friday evening. Earlier Friday, Geisinger CEO and president Dr. Jaewon Ryu provided an update on how the health system is handling the COVID-19 surge and how it is distributing COVID vaccines to its employees, including some at the Mifflin County facility.
LEWISTOWN Dr. Jaewon Ryu, president and CEO of Geisinger Health System, held a press conference Friday and provided updates on how Geisinger facilities are fighting the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
Ryu said Geisinger continues to see alarmingly high rates of positive tests and hospitalizations.
Press release content from PR Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
Geisinger begins providing COVID-19 vaccines to front-line health care heroes
December 18, 2020 GMT
Geisinger staff receives and unpacks the first vaccine shipments at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital on Wednesday, December 16
Geisinger staff receives and unpacks the first vaccine shipments at Geisinger Lewistown Hospital on Wednesday, December 16
DANVILLE, Pa., Dec. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ Today, Geisinger employees became among the first in Pennsylvania to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Within 24 hours of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine arriving at Geisinger facilities, front-line health care workers rolled up their sleeves to get their first of two doses.
10:15 EDT, 18 December 2020
U.S. health officials are seeing an astonishing lack of demand for COVID-19 medicines that may help keep infected people out of the hospital, drugs they rushed out to states over the past few weeks as deaths set new records.
Red tape, staff shortages, testing delays and strong skepticism are keeping many patients and doctors from these drugs, which supply antibodies to help the immune system fight the coronavirus. Only 5% to 20% of doses the federal government allocated have been used.
Ironically, government advisers met Wednesday and Thursday to plan for the opposite problem: potential future shortages of the drug as COVID-19 cases continue to rise. Many hospitals have set up lottery systems to ration what is expected to be a limited supply, even after taking into account the unused medicines still on hand.
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