Marilynn Marchione
FILE - This photo provided by Eli Lilly shows the drug Bamlanivimab, the first antibody drug to help the immune system fight COVID-19. Antibodies are made by the immune system to fight the virus but it can take several weeks after infection for the best ones to form. This and a Regeneron medication aim to help right away, by supplying concentrated doses of one or two antibodies that worked best in lab tests. (Courtesy of Eli Lilly via AP) December 18, 2020 - 6:02 AM
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.
Demand is low for COVID-19 antibody drugs but shortages loom
By 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.
Demand is low for COVID-19 antibody drugs, but shortages loom v100rocks.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from v100rocks.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.