BRAINTREE, Mass. — While COVID-19 numbers are on the rise in Massachusetts, one local epidemiologist says they may not be telling the whole story.
“I think that we are in better shape than our category says,” said Dr. Shira Doron who is the Head Epidemiologist at Tufts in Boston.
“Hospitalizations have only gone up by a smaller proportion than we’ve seen with past increases in cases,” said Dr. Doron.
And that says Dr. Doron is because there are now lots of options to treat COVID-19.
There’s also a preventative therapy for people who can’t take the vaccine called Evusheld.
“So it’s for people who are immunocompromised, their immune system won’t respond well to the vaccine or people who can’t get the vaccine. It is a monoclonal antibody. You give it and it protects you for months from infection,” said Dr. Doron.
And there are four treatments. If you have COVID-19 symptoms get tested. And if positive your best bet is Paxlovid.
“The first choice is Paxlovid. It’s an oral pill. You get it from a pharmacy and it’s highly effective,” said Dr. Doron.
Your second option is Remdesivir.
“The second choice is IV remdesivir. It’s an intravenous infusion and you have to go 3 days…You have to go to an infusion site on 3 consecutive days and that can be tricky,” she said.
Next in your COVID-19 arsenal is Bebtelovimab.
“So we also have the monoclonal antibody Bebtelovimab which is a single shot. One time but you have to go to a site to get it,” said Dr. Doron.
And finally there’s a therapy called Molnupiravir.
“The last option would be Molnupiravir which is a pill but it is less effective that the other options,” said Dr. Doron.
If you do get COVID-19 Dr. Doron says reach out to your doctor to see which treatment is best for you.
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