At a recent Thanksgiving dinner, a group of friends gathered to enjoy food, companionship and fun. Of the three families present, most were fully vaccinated and even boosted. A few people were not vaccinated, several had COVID previously.
Still, COVID-19 spread at that dinner table, including to a couple who had boosters. Only two teenagers who were vaccinated and the adults who already had COVID were spared. Everyone else tested positive over the next few days. Some used a home test and ended up positive, other’s had a more accurate PCR test, also positive.
The symptoms were mostly mild, but two of the women, one in her late 50’s, the other in her late 60’s, started feeling increasingly worse. They both decided to get the monoclonal antibody treatment they’d heard about through San Diego County.
They didn’t call their primary care doctor to ask for a referral. Instead, they relied on the County of San Diego’s Monoclonal Antibody clinics.
Both women called the county’s hotline number, 619-685-2500.
My friend, whom we’ll call Wendy, described what happened so I could pass it along.
Wendy called the number in the morning and had to leave a message. She received a call back in the afternoon, stating she could get an appointment in Mira Mesa, one of six monoclonal antibody clinics in the county.
She drove to Mira Mesa the next day.
“It wasn’t fancy,” she told me. The clinic was in a community center, no frills.
“I don’t know if they asked for ID, they definitely didn’t ask for my insurance information,” Wendy said. Essentially, the treatment was free for the person receiving it, funded by the government through taxpayers.
A nurse gave her four injections of the monoclonal antibodies, two in both sides of her hips and two in both sides of her stomach. Wendy had to wait 30 minutes at the clinic after the injections, to make sure she didn’t have an allergic reaction. Then she drove home.
The next day, Wendy, who was vaccinated and boosted, felt much better.
The other woman, in her late 60’s and unvaccinated, got the same treatment at the same location, and she recovered quickly as well.
Neither woman had to see their primary care physician or get a doctor’s order for the treatment. They just had to answer questions to make sure they qualified. Both did.
To get information about the monoclonal antibody program in San Diego – click here.
For information in Los Angeles County – click here.
