Previously, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized a combo of monoclonal antibodies, tixagevimab plus cilgavimab (aka Evusheld), as a medication to prevent COVID-19 for people who could not get a vaccine for medical reasons or have weakened immune systems.
The goal of Evusheld was to prevent (not treat!) COVID-19 by giving extra lab-made antibodies to people who are unable to make enough antibodies to fight off infection on their own. Unfortunately, the circulating Omicron subvariants are not susceptible to this medication.
The FDA updated the Emergency Use Authorization for Evusheld on January 26, 2023. They said that Evusheld can only be used as pre-exposure prophylaxis when the frequency of non-susceptible subvariants is <90%. The overall prevalence of the Omicron subvariants are over 97%. This means Evusheld is not currently authorized but may be authorized again in the future.
It’s more important than ever that we all take precautions to stay safe and protect each other, especially folks who are immunocompromised and can get very sick from COVID-19. Here are some things you can do:
🙌 Get your primary vaccine series if you haven’t yet. It’s not too late!
💪 Get boosted with the bivalent booster vaccine to protect against the new strains.
😷 In communities with high transmission rates, wear a mask indoors and in crowded outdoor places.
🌳 Try to take activities outside or in well ventilated areas.
🏠 Stay home when sick to avoid spreading an infection to anyone else.
Stay safe. Stay well.
Those Nerdy Girls
Links:
NIH Revised Statement on Evusheld
