COVID-19 prevention drug coming soon to P.E.I.
CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — As masking necessities ease and the remainder of the pandemic public well being measures disappear into the previous, a brand new COVID-19-preventing medicine is on its technique to P.E.I.
Evusheld, a monoclonal antibody prophylactic from AstraZeneca, will help forestall COVID-19. It’s greatest fitted to people who find themselves immune compromised however can’t be vaccinated.
“It’s administered earlier than somebody’s uncovered to the virus. It’s not for remedy of COVID-19 an infection, and it’s not for prevention in individuals who have already been uncovered to the virus,” mentioned Dr. Heather Morrison, P.E.I.’s chief public well being officer, to SaltWire Community by telephone on Could 4. “It’s very explicit. It’s pre-exposure prophylaxis.”
The medicine is run in two intramuscular injections and is aimed toward those that are severely immunocompromised.
“It’s not for remedy of COVID-19 an infection, and it’s not for prevention in individuals who have already been uncovered to the virus. It’s very explicit. It’s pre-exposure prophylaxis.” – Dr. Heather Morrison
P.E.I. is within the technique of securing its per-capita allotment of 105 remedy programs. As a result of the necessities for effectiveness are so particular, those that are eligible can be contacted immediately, mentioned Morrison.
“We’re within the technique of working with Well being P.E.I. to determine and distribute (to) those that may want Evusheld,” mentioned Morrison. “They’ll have the ability to determine which explicit most cancers affected person may want it, as an illustration.”
A distinct remedy
Evusheld is a brand new drug, and isn’t the identical as Paxlovid, an oral antiviral remedy for people who’ve contracted COVID-19 and are susceptible to severe sickness.
As of April 30, P.E.I. had administered 1,445 Paxlovid therapies to Islanders. Of these, solely three have been admitted to hospital for COVID, mentioned Morrison.
“So, I believe we have now an excellent system in place in these first couple months to be sure that Islanders who will profit from antiviral remedy have the chance to prescribe Paxlovid.”
Evusheld will not be like Sotrovimab both, mentioned Morrison.
Sotrovimab is an intravenous monoclonal antibody remedy that has been in use since late 2021. The remedy is run to sufferers inside seven days of contracting COVID-19 and provided that they aren’t a very good match for Paxlovid.
Today although, Sotrovimab isn’t used as a lot as a result of it’s not as efficient in opposition to the BA.2 COVID-19 variant.
Evusheld is anticipated to be efficient in stopping BA.2 infections for as much as six months, mentioned the assertion from the Division of Well being and Wellness.
Morrison mentioned that as of Could 4, 70 per cent of COVID-19 instances in P.E.I. have been the BA.2 variant.
Wastewater testing
Together with preventative medicines and coverings, P.E.I. can be making its means by the COVID-19 pandemic by maintaining a tally of the virus from a unique angle – wastewater.
P.E.I.’s Chief Public Well being Workplace (CPHO) started its COVID-19 sewage surveillance program in Charlottetown and Summerside on Could 5.
“We’re taking a look at population-level surveillance for COVID-19, which testing wastewater permits us to do,” mentioned Morrison.
Ready till now to start monitoring wastewater allowed the CPHO to study from applications in different provinces and develop the most effective testing strategies.
Testing sewage for COVID-19 can function an early warning system as a result of the virus is usually detected in wastewater earlier than particular person instances are detected by conventional surveillance, like optimistic COVID-19 checks, mentioned Morrison.
“This can be actually vital as we go into the autumn to see if there’s an early detection of elevated instances,” she mentioned.
Sewage samples can be collected twice every week and shipped to the Nationwide Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, Man., for evaluation.
The nationwide lab won’t solely check for COVID-19 within the wastewater, it would additionally sequence a number of the samples to test for brand spanking new COVID-19 variants, mentioned Morrison.
Morrison additionally acknowledged the sampling is a collaboration of the CPHO, the Nationwide Microbiology Laboratory, the municipal governments of Summerside and Charlottetown in addition to the Division of Setting, Power and Local weather Motion.
It can take time for developments to emerge and Morrison mentioned she is going to acquire the wastewater outcomes for just a few weeks earlier than releasing publicly.
Alison Jenkins is a well being reporter with the SaltWire Community in Prince Edward Island. @AlisonEBC
