New COVID antibody treatment available in Rochester

Rochester, New York — A new COVID therapy is available in the city of Rochester.

According to doctors, the drug could help people who are immunocompromised have a better response to the vaccine.

One of the first people in the area to receive the treatment is Mark Brooks. He says he’s optimistic about its capabilities.

“As these things come along, somebody has got to be willing to try them,” Brooks said. “There’s a lot of people like me who could benefit from this.”

He has a form of blood cancer and receives a blood infusion once a week.

“The only immune system I really have, as far as my strength, is from blood donors,” Brooks said.

On Saturday Rochester Regional Health made Evusheld injections available to immunocompromised patients at a clinic.

Brooks received two shots containing COVID antibodies On Saturday.

The Food and Drug Administration-emergency authorized therapy is an injection of COVID antibodies called Evusheld. It’s meant to help those who didn’t have an adequate response to the COVID vaccine.

“The U.S. purchased 500,000 doses and then ordered 700,000 more,” Dr. S. Shahzad Mustafa, the lead physician for allergy, immunology and rheumatology at Rochester Regional Health, said. “So [that’s] a little over a million doses. But there are more individuals who would benefit, so we need to work on the drug supply.”

According to doctors, the shots should boost Mark Brooks’ immune system for six months.

“There’s a lot of people that could benefit from this,” Brooks said. “[I] thought it was the right thing to do.”

Brooks will visit his doctors to see how successful the trial was after six months.