Monoclonal Treatment For COVID-19 In Colorado: Who's Eligible

COLORADO — Monoclonal antibody treatment is being used to lower the risk of hospitalization among COVID-19 patients in Colorado, Gov. Jared Polis announced Friday. The treatment uses lab-created antibodies, injected into patients, to help them fight off the infection.

Around 95 percent of ICU beds in our state are now full, and hospital bed capacity has hit an all-time low, public health officials said.

Using the treatment can reduce Colorado's risk of exceeding hospital capacity by 30 percent, and prevent around 2,600 hospitalizations and more than 200 deaths over the next few months, state public health officials said.

Those who qualify for monoclonal antibody treatment must:

• Be at least 12 years old and test positive for COVID-19;
• Be experiencing mild or moderate symptoms of COVID-19 prior to need for hospitalization;
• Have experienced their first symptoms of COVID-19 in the last 10 days;
• Be at high risk for having more serious symptoms of COVID-19 and/or going into the hospital, including having an underlying medical condition.

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Data shows the treatment can reduce the need for hospitalization by between 70 and 80 percent, public health officials said.

As of Friday, 1,476 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in our state, and 19 percent of the hospitalizations were among vaccinated Coloradans, Polis said. Around 91 percent of UC Health intubated patients — those who are in critical condition — are unvaccinated, he said.

“We wouldn’t be here talking about this if everyone was vaccinated … we wouldn’t be in this dire situation,” Polis said during a news conference Friday.

Five of the patients hospitalized Friday were teenagers ages 12 to 17, he said.

“It breaks my heart … it’s unnecessary,” Polis said.

Jill Lester, a Coloradan who received the antibody treatment after she tested positive for COVID-19, was invited to the news conference to share her experience.

“The monoclonal infusion went very smoothly and while it took me a couple of days to begin feeling better, I then quickly and fully recovered," Lester said.

"The treatment was efficient and uneventful and I was able recover faster and reduce my risk for complications. I’m so glad that we have this wonderful monoclonal antibody treatment technology to help people recover from this frightening illness.”

>> More information about monoclonal antibody treatments in Colorado can be found here.