Pagosa Springs Medical Center announced on Wednesday, January 26, that — as the result of revised FDA authorization — they will no longer be offering MAB (Monoclonal Antibody) treatments to certain COVID patients who would have previously qualified to receive the treatments.
From the announcement:
PSMC is one of four sites in the State of Colorado with Colorado Homeland Security healthcare staff to deliver COVID-19 Monoclonal Antibody (MAB) treatment for qualifying patients.
On January 24, 2022, the FDA revised the Emergency Use Authorization and limited the use of certain MAB treatments (bamlanivimab/etesevimab and caririvaimab/imdevimab).
The FDA’s decision was immediate and without warning, so the unfortunate result is that in most instances the only MAB treatment available for a COVID patient is sotrovimab, which is in scarce supply in the U.S. This means that most COVID patients will no longer be able to get MAB treatment at PSMC as PSMC currently has a only a small number of doses of sotrovimab, and these doses are limited to very high risk patients meeting specific criteria.
No one should travel to Pagosa Springs for MAB treatments without having an appointment and confirmation that he/she has been determined to be high risk, meeting criteria for sotrovimab.
PSMC will use the following qualifications for administering the limited MAB doses, as available:
Tier 1: Persons with organ transplants, lymphoma and other blood cancers.
Tier 2: Any person 75 years of age or older, any persons with ac- tive cancers, and/or any person who is severely immune compro-mised.
Tier 3: Any person 65 years of age or older with comorbid medical conditions; front line healthcare workers.
In other news, San Juan Basin Public Health has announced that free KN95 and surgical masks are now available to the public at SJBPH offices in Pagosa Springs and Durango. Masks are available at SJBPH front desks on a first come, first served basis until they run out. Five masks will be provided per person. (The public is required to wear a mask to enter SJBPH offices and lobbies at this time.)
SJBPH’s Pagosa Springs office is located at 502 S. 8th Street in Pagosa Springs and is open Monday through Thursday 8:00am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 5:00pm. The SJBPH Durango office is located at 281 Sawyer Drive in Durango and is open Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 5:00pm.
The free masks were provided to SJBPH by the State of Colorado’s Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Management as a resource to communities for slowing the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. High quality, well-fitting masks are a critical precaution for limiting transmission during the current surge of the Omicron variant in our community. SJBPH’s local Public Health Advisory continues to strongly recommend face coverings for all individuals ages two and up in all public indoor settings, businesses, and workplaces.