OldArmy71 said:

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[url=https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/12/27/monoclonal-antibody-supply-to-fight-omicron-variant-exhausted-at-san-antonio-infusion-center-tdhs-says/][/url]

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Monoclonal antibody infusion centers in San Antonio and other Texas cities will not be offering monoclonal antibodies used to fight the omicron variant for the remainder of the year due to a national shortage, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services (TDHS).

In a news release, TDHS officials said infusion centers in San Antonio, Austin, El Paso, Fort Worth, and The Woodlands have used their supply of sotrovimab, the monoclonal antibody effective against the COVID-19 omicron variant.

Because the federal government controls the distribution of monoclonal antibodies, infusion centers won't be able to offer the infusions until January, when they are expected to receive a shipment of the antibodies, TDHS officials said.

Health officials say other monoclonal antibodies are not effective against the omicron variant, which accounts for more than 90% of new cases.

Those who had appointments at one of the infusion centers this week will be contacted directly, TDHS said.
People who are infected with a different variant of COVID-19 can still receive other monoclonal antibodies at the infusion centers, officials say.

The FDA authorized two new oral antiviral pills -- Pfizer's pill, Paxlovid, and Merck's molnupiravir -- last week. TDHS officials say those pills will be available soon. However, they are expected to have a limited supply.

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So the antibodies are "out of stock" around the same time Pfizer's drug is available?

Are there any reports on production shortages of antibody treatments?

So you think the shortage is a conspiracy rather then a result of many cases?

The vast majority of these are not effective against Omicron. The few that are effective are going to be in very short supply.

It is not a vast conspiracy, it is a change in the virus that rendered the treatment worthless. The same reason the mRNA vaccines are not working well.

The Pfizer pill looks amazing so far but it is going to be a good while before it is available to many people.

It's OK.

Your immune system should work just fine.

bay fan said:

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So you think the shortage is a conspiracy rather then a result of many cases?

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I think I made my point abundantly clear. Do you know if there are any supply/production issues for antibodies?

I'm tired of hearing this answer. Every person I know that has had this treatment the past 3 weeks felt immediately better. And it's a lot of them. Correlation, causation, blah, blah, blah. There is no downside of administering these. Our treatment response as a country is pitiful.

And not every case is omicron, yet we're still out

Exactly. Let's just not produce one of the most (if not the most) effective treatments we've had the past year. Sounds like a good idea.

The pfizer pill will save us. Oh wait, it has dangerous interactions with statins and blood thinners. You know, medications that a ton of people at higher risk of covid issues are taking. Oops

SjAg said:

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I'm tired of hearing this answer. Every person I know that has had this treatment the past 3 weeks felt immediately better. And it's a lot of them. Correlation, causation, blah, blah, blah. There is no downside of administering these. Our treatment response as a country is pitiful.

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I did get lucky and get Sotrovimab from Travis County on Christmas Eve. I could tell just a few hours later that my brain fog was substantially better, even if the rest of the symptoms took another day or two to clear up. My husband even said just looking at me I seemed more alert and functional. It's sad they have supply issues with it. Everyone should be able to get it if needed.

bay fan said:

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So you think the shortage is a conspiracy rather then a result of many cases?

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Don't conflate conspiracy with confluence.

Are you paying attention yet?

KidDoc said:

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The vast majority of these are not effective against Omicron. The few that are effective are going to be in very short supply.

It is not a vast conspiracy, it is a change in the virus that rendered the treatment worthless. The same reason the mRNA vaccines are not working well.

The Pfizer pill looks amazing so far but it is going to be a good while before it is available to many people.

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Confirmed by a hospital administrator at Methodist, where the initial monoclonal antibody research was done. Methodist suspended this treatment for Omicron cases. Said that the treatment does not work. He also said that they are working on an antibody treatment specifically for Omicron that should be out in 2-3 weeks.

dlp3719 said:

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If you've had COVID in the last month, please donate your antibodies (plasma). It will literally save lives. It's best to donate in the first fews months after recovering from COVID when your antibodies are highest.

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I believe that once you are vaccinated you cannot donate antibodies even if you had COVID prior(or after). As they push everyone, including the recovered, to get vaccinated -ironic, right?

dlp3719 said:

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If you've had COVID in the last month, please donate your antibodies (plasma). It will literally save lives. It's best to donate in the first fews months after recovering from COVID when your antibodies are highest.

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Not many hospitals are ordering convalescent plasma from community blood centers anymore. Demand for it has waned as other treatments came on board, and efficacy is debatable. Essentially it seems only high titer plasma given very early on had any efficacy.

Not many blood centers are collecting or distributing convalescent plasma due to the diminished demand, and in fact most have stopped testing for antibodies or are stopping soon.

Lastly- if you are selling your on plasma to a plasma center and being paid, they are not producing convalescent plasma nor are they providing any transfusion services from your plasma. Plasma centers do NOT provide any products to hospitals for direct patient transfusion.

They are reselling it to pharma companies who create immunoglobulins from it. Which are a much needed treatment for those with immune disorders but your covid antibodies have no bearing on its production and you are not firstly helping patients in your community.

Not to worry. Still plenty of Ivermectin available.

I took ivermectin religiously and still ended up in the ICU less than 2 months ago. Good luck with that

DannyDuberstein said:

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The pfizer pill will save us. Oh wait, it has dangerous interactions with statins and blood thinners. You know, medications that a ton of people at higher risk of covid issues are taking. Oops

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But haven't you heard? Smart people say it's f'n AMAZING!

Other treatment as in? Forgive me, but we largely seem to be in basically the same place treatment-wise that we were over a year ago. I hear of no standard approaches and the one approach that most agreed was working is no longer available. So what is the early standard of care, because we have some docs still doing zpacks, some doing ivermectin, some doing other steroids (the choice of which seems to vary), some doing a vitamin cocktail, and some doing Tylenol until your stats drop.

So what is the standard early treatment protocol, because from what I can tell, we're not in a much different place than 2020

buffalo chip said:

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KidDoc said:

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The vast majority of these are not effective against Omicron. The few that are effective are going to be in very short supply.

It is not a vast conspiracy, it is a change in the virus that rendered the treatment worthless. The same reason the mRNA vaccines are not working well.

The Pfizer pill looks amazing so far but it is going to be a good while before it is available to many people.

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Confirmed by a hospital administrator at Methodist, where the initial monoclonal antibody research was done. Methodist suspended this treatment for Omicron cases. Said that the treatment does not work. He also said that they are working on an antibody treatment specifically for Omicron that should be out in 2-3 weeks.

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Let's be clear, it seems they have suspended it for all variants

Please tell them thank you for taking away a 100% effective treatment. This is based on my direct observation and own eyeballs the past few weeks in Over 50 + individuals. I don't give a sh*t what some research says.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Other treatment as in? Forgive me, but we largely seem to be in basically the same place treatment-wise that we were over a year ago. I hear of no standard approaches and the one approach that most agreed was working is no longer available. So what is the early standard of care, because we have some docs still doing zpacks, some doing ivermectin, some doing other steroids (the choice of which seems to vary), some doing a vitamin cocktail, and some doing Tylenol until your stats drop.

So what is the standard early treatment protocol, because from what I can tell, we're not in a much different place than 2020

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I don't disagree with your assessment of where the standard early treatment protocols are. I am simply conveying what we are being told by our hospital partners that we supplied convalescent plasma to. I know a lot of them adopted utilizing monoclonal antibodies, and with what I understood to be great success. What other treatments they are providing in lieu out of CCP or MA, I could not tell you.

I am sorry I don't have a better answer, but my response was not intended to be an evaluation of the overall medical approach. Just simply to provide information in regard to the collection, and use of convalescent plasma based on what the other poster advocated. It was meant to inform that there is currently not demand for convalescent plasma from hospitals, and blood centers aren't actively testing,collecting, producing the product.

ETA: just a shameless plug, is that once you are recovered and/or if you are feeling fine. Please just go give blood to you community blood center. Inventories are still tight and as medical services have opened up for surgeries, demand is steadily outpacing supply.

Skywalker18 said:

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I took ivermectin religiously and still ended up in the ICU less than 2 months ago. Good luck with that

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To be fair, without ivermectin, you would have still ended up in the ICU. But anyone starring this post is free to point us in the direction of a more effective treatment that is actually available. Honest request. I'm curious to see it

bay fan said:

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So you think the shortage is a conspiracy rather then a result of many cases?

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Yes

The treatment protocol will be revised monoclonal antibodies and, eventually, the Pfizer pill will be a massive game changer based on their FDA approval data. It will make it into nothing honestly once we have a good supply of those pills + rapid testing so we can identify the COVID sniffles vs other sniffles and get treatment for age 12+

That is assuming that the original Pfizer data holds up in post marketing and no dangerous side effects pop up, which has been known to happen.

But right now you are correct, there is minimal to no evidence that any early treatment helps aside from monoclonal antibodies which were rendered largely ineffective 2-3 weeks ago.

DannyDuberstein said:

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Skywalker18 said:

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I took ivermectin religiously and still ended up in the ICU less than 2 months ago. Good luck with that

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To be fair, without ivermectin, you would have still ended up in the ICU. But anyone starring this post is free to point us in the direction of a more effective treatment that is actually available. Honest request. I'm curious to see it

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I don't mean to sound flippant at all but the large scales studies say that ivermectin doesn't help unless you live in a place like India that has endemic parasites.

That's why monoclonal antibodies were such a big deal.

Thankfully omicron doesn't seem to be too dangerous for most people. Unfortunately with reduced staffs and the flu being very active this winter it looks like our hospitals will probably fill up again.

I'm not pushing Ivermectin. I just find people spiking the football on it with nothing else to offer to be fairly offputting as well

I also think the lack of education and push on monoclonal when it was working to be extremely disappointing. Lots of folks were having to learn about it and seek treatment based on researching it themselves via the internet, not their doctor. Something tells mw this half-assed approach is also why it became more difficult to find even before omicron and now left with a gap. We have not prioritized this treatment anywhere near like we should have, and that goes for all of 2021