Gyeonggi-do Administers COVID-19 Preventive Antibody Treatment 'Evusheld'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is set to begin administering the COVID-19 preventive antibody treatment 'Evusheld.'

Gyeonggi Province announced on the 8th that, in preparation for the resurgence of COVID-19, it designated 32 medical institutions at the hospital level or higher as Evusheld administration centers on the 1st of this month and will start administering the COVID-19 preventive antibody treatment 'Evusheld' within this month.

The designated medical institutions include Bundang Seoul National University Hospital, Yongin Severance Hospital, Ansan Hospital affiliated with Korea University College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University Gwangmyeong Hospital, Ajou University Hospital, Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, Uijeongbu Eulji University Hospital, Ilsan Paik Hospital, Seongnam Medical Center, Bundang CHA Hospital, Good Morning Hospital, and Siwha Hospital.

Evusheld is the first COVID-19 preventive antibody drug introduced domestically. It is a combination of antibodies that bind to the spike protein of the COVID-19 virus, neutralizing it to prevent the virus from penetrating the human body.

It is used for immunocompromised individuals who have difficulty expecting the effects of COVID-19 vaccination, such as adults and children (aged 12 and older, weighing 40kg or more) with blood cancer or those receiving immunosuppressants after organ transplantation.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety granted emergency use authorization for 20,000 doses of Evusheld developed by AstraZeneca on the 30th of last month.

To administer the preventive antibody treatment, the patient's primary medical institution must determine eligibility and apply through the COVID-19 vaccination management system.

Once the application is completed, the local public health center verifies that the patient has no history of COVID-19 infection and then requests drug allocation from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. Subsequently, the KDCA directly delivers the medication to the designated medical institution, where the administration takes place.

A provincial official stated, "We expect to protect severely immunosuppressed individuals who were in the blind spot of vaccination despite being high-risk."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.