Only 70 people have been given a new Covid-19 treatment in Ireland, the HSE has revealed.
As the Irish Examiner reports, monoclonal antibodies treatment sotrovimab, from GSK, is an infusion given through a drip in hospitals, but it is not necessary to stay overnight for this.
It should be given within five days of symptoms starting.
The first delivery of about 1,000 doses arrived on January 20th, with the expectation this would be used to treat people who are especially vulnerable to severe illness from the virus.
“There is another delivery of sotrovimab expected to arrive later this month. All hospitals in Ireland have access to supplies of sotrovimab,” a HSE spokeswoman said.
The HSE set up a therapeutics advisory group, chaired by two co-leads of the HSE’s National Infectious Diseases Programme, and they decide on which patients should benefit from the treatment.
This includes people who are immunocompromised, people who have been treated with rituximab within the past 12 months, or who have been taking more than 40mg a day of prednisolone steroids for more than a week, and pregnant women who have underlying health conditions.
Immunocompromised people
However, Michael Rynne, spokesman for blood cancer support group CLL Ireland, said it was “disappointing” to see so few treatments given here.
Department of Health data shows 126,134 extra vaccine doses given by Monday to immunocompromised people, with some people needing three doses to be considered fully vaccinated and then receiving an additional fourth dose as a booster.
“Only 70 doses administered considering that there are over 600 patients in hospital with Covid,” Mr Rynne said, and called for a plan to inform patients of their eligibility.
He was critical also of the slow pace of delivery of the antiviral treatments.
“We want things in place like the antivirals, so we can re-join the community, no one is advising vulnerable people how they can live,” he said.
Ireland could receive two types of antiviral mediation, Paxlovid, manufactured by Pfizer in Ireland and Lagevrio, made by MSD/Merck, through an EU deal at a cost of about €90m.
