Mobile treatment clinic aims to provide equity in COVID-19 care
The truck in the Cape Cod Hospital lot is hard to miss. Blue with bold letters, it’s a harbinger of a treatment for COVID-19 that we can offer patients.
Monoclonal antibody therapy (mAb) will be offered at Cape Cod Healthcare through this mobile unit, in partnership with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS.) Positioned near the COVID -19 testing site, this temporary clinic will help patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 receive immediate treatment. The promising mAb therapy has been shown to keep high-risk COVID-19 patients out of the hospital.
The Crush COVID program is intended to provide equitable treatment for our entire community, especially those who are considered underserved populations. The treatment is free, safe and easy to administer, according to the federal guideline. Authorized by the FDA, monoclonal antibody therapy (mAbs) is available to patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 and are considered at high risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization.
“As an organization dedicated to health equity, Cape Cod Hospital’s COVID-19 response has focused on vulnerable communities from the start,” said William Agel, MD, MPH, chief medical officer for Cape Cod Hospital and Cape Cod Healthcare. “It is both a responsibility and an honor for us to now be able to provide treatment opportunities from a trustworthy source to Barnstable County patients.”
If administered within 10 days of onset of COVID-19 symptoms, the one-time therapy is highly effective in neutralizing the virus and preventing symptoms from worsening. The treatment is administered through intravenous infusion, delivering medication directly into a patient’s bloodstream.
The therapy is the first COVID-19 treatment granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for outpatient use. Last month, a Phase 3 clinical trial showed that the antibody therapy reduced the risk of hospitalization or death by up to 87% in patients who received the drug intravenously compared to those who received a placebo.
To learn more about patient eligibility and the Crush Covid program, visit https://crushcovid.com
