UPMC: Omicron is on the decline
The peak of the omicron variant may have already passed, and treatments are increasingly available to help protect immunocompromised patients, UPMC doctors said in a press briefing on Monday.
“As we’ve seen over the past week, COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations are decreasing, or they’ve plateaued across the nation,” said Donald M. Yealy, M.D., UPMC’s chief medical officer. “This includes in all the communities that UPMC serves. The omicron variant came quickly, and like we saw in other areas around the globe, it is dropping fast.”
The peak of omicron in UPMC hospitals and communities is estimated to have been about 10 days ago, Yealy said.
He encouraged people to continue to mask and to get vaccinated, and cautioned that the virus still has the ability to harm, and remains active in communities.
“The amount of activity in our communities and in the hospitals, people who need hospital care, is still fairly high,” he said. “It’s higher than it has been for most of the pandemic, so we’re clearly not out of the woods yet. But I do see positive signs.”
Evusheld availability
UPMC doctors also encouraged both patients and healthcare providers to take advantage of the drug Evusheld if they are eligible to receive it.
Evusheld, a new monoclonal antibody combination designed to prevent COVID-19 infections in immunocompromised individuals who may not respond as well to vaccination, first was distributed to United States health care providers at the end of December.
UPMC is using a lottery system to contact eligible patients and allocate limited doses of the drug, which is approved for immunocompromised adults and children 12 years of age and older weighing at least 88 pounds who are not currently infected with COVID-19 and have not been recently exposed to a positive case.
The UPMC health system has given approximately 1,000 doses of Evusheld already, and has recently received more doses.
“We are giving Evusheld to our patients whose immune systems are not working properly, which we refer to as immunosuppressed. These patients are at the greatest risk for very serious outcomes if they get infected with COVID-19,” said Stanley M. Marks, M.D., UPMC Hillman Cancer Center chairman.
He emphasized that Evusheld is not a substitute for vaccination, and is only for immunocompromised patients.
“Because the supply of Evusheld is limited, we are working hard to be able to get the word out about this very important drug, and make sure we get it to the people who need it the most.” said Tami Minnier, chief quality and operational excellence officer at UPMC. “We have a knowledgeable team calling patients in our communities who are eligible, answering questions, and scheduling appointments.”
Minnier explained that calls to eligible patients begin with an automated message—“Hello, this is UPMC calling to share information from your doctor about Evusheld”—followed by an explanation of what the drug is for.
She hopes to get the word out about the opportunities provided by Evusheld.
“We’ve only had three weeks of actually being able to engage in this messaging,” she said. “Our lottery has been working very effectively as it relates to identifying those individuals that are most at risk, but we are also wanting to educate patients directly and our physicians about the importance of supporting the offering and the administration of this medication to our patients. We are holding our course and out promoting at every level.”
