ATLANTA — Georgia's Department of Public Health (DPH) said changes are coming to its distribution process for COVID antibody treatments across the state.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the changes Monday due to a national monoclonal antibody treatment supply shortage.
According to the HHS, the demand for the antibody treatment has grown due to the rapid spread of the delta variant.
One of the changes includes health care providers no longer being able to order the antibody treatments directly.
Each week, the HHS will determine each state's weekly allocation of the antibody treatment based on the use of the treatment and the number of new COVID cases.
The Georgia DPH will then decide which sites in the state will receive the treatment and the number of treatments which that site will offer.
According to a release from the DPH, healthcare providers must record how many treatments they administer, if allotted any, to receive more.
The DPH said it will work to distribute the treatments quickly and equitably to as many Georgia providers as possible. It will also address the backlog of requests previously made to the HHS. The DPH said it was not made aware of these requests until Tuesday.
According to the DPH, monoclonal antibodies are synthetic and are created in a laboratory. The goal of the treatment is to help COVID patients in their early days of diagnosis-- within 10 days of testing positive for the virus. The treatment also helps those who have come into close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID.
The DPH reiterated that the antibody treatment doesn't teach a patient's body how to create its own antibodies, and it is not a replacement treatment for the COVID vaccine.
“We have safe and highly effective vaccines to protect against COVID-19. It is much easier to get a vaccine than risk becoming seriously ill with life-threatening complications,” Kathleen E. Toomey, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, said. “Monoclonal antibodies are in short supply, and high demand and hospital beds are full. What Georgia does have is enough vaccine for all Georgians aged 12 and over to be vaccinated.”
As of Wednesday, Sept. 15, 46% of Georgians are fully vaccinated, 7% of Georgians are between their first and second doses, and 47% remain unvaccinated.
The DPH said there are a total of 136 locations in Georgia that have been administering the monoclonal antibody treatment.
