Kern Medical receives COVID-19 medication for immunocompromised people

Ishani Desai, The Bakersfield Californian
·2 min read

Jan. 19—Kern Medical announced Tuesday that the facility will administer doses of a newly-approved medication that shields vulnerable populations from a deadly infection of COVID-19.

Sally Shelby, the director of marketing and communications at Kern Medical, said the California Department of Public Health designated the hospital as the only health care facility in Kern County to administer AstraZeneca's medicine Evusheld.

The CDPH distributed Evusheld to Kern County "largely based" on its low vaccination rates, said Glenn Goldis, the chief medical officer at Kern Medical. The health care facility received roughly 650 doses this week and will get about 500 doses by next week, he added.

Patients will receive two shots of long-acting monoclonal antibodies sequentially into their muscles, Goldis said. The antibodies help to mount an immune response for an individual without a healthy system to fend off a coronavirus infection. This drug was approved for people without COVID-19 only, according to the FDA.

Goldis said immunocompromised people or anyone allergic to the vaccine may qualify to receive the treatment. At-risk people include patients with lymphoma, leukemia, multiple myeloma, HIV, a solid organ transplant and other illnesses, he added.

The treatment for immunocompromised people, even if they can get vaccinated, will bolster their weakened immune system, Goldis said.

People eligible to receive a vaccination and booster should get those before Evusheld, Goldis said. The vaccines offer more protection from COVID-19 than Evusheld, he said.

Health care professionals can call 661-326-5206 on behalf of their patient and will then receive a link to a survey to complete. Eligible patients will be contacted and scheduled for their appointment.

There are about seven million immunocompromised people within the United States, and roughly 700,000 doses of the medicine were created, Goldis added.

You can reach Ishani Desai at 661-395-7417. You can also follow her at @idesai98 on Twitter.