A drug that helps immunocompromised people fight COVID is in short supply

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A drug that helps immunocompromised people fight COVID is in short supply

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Antibody-based drug Evusheld protects immune-suppressed people against COVID-19 for up to six months. The drug is hard to get, and some hospitals are selecting patients by lottery².

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

While vaccines³ have helped protect many people during the omicron surge, serious breakthrough infections have surged among people whose immune systems don't respond well to vaccines. There is some good news, though. A new drug called Evusheld could protect them, although it's been very hard to get. NPR's Pien Huang reports.

PIEN HUANG, BYLINE⁴: Dr. Vivian Cheung takes steroids to manage a rare genetic⁵ disease. Cheung, a pediatrician and researcher who lives in Maryland, says those drugs also suppress her immune system, which puts her at high risk of getting very sick from COVID.

VIVIAN CHEUNG: Except for work, I don't go out at all, so I haven't been inside of a grocery store for over a year.

HUANG: So last month, when the FDA authorized⁶ Evusheld, she couldn't wait to get it.

CHEUNG: So I think that like many people, I thought, wonderful, you know? Finally, I will have coverage⁷ against COVID.

HUANG: Evusheld, from the drug company AstraZeneca, is a combination of antibodies. For those who don't respond well to vaccines, like Cheung, Evusheld puts COVID-fighting proteins directly into their bodies. A company study shows the drug reduced the risk of getting COVID by 77% and lasted for six months, but the drug is in short supply. Dr. Camille Kotton treats organ transplant patients at Mass General Hospital in Boston.

CAMILLE KOTTON: A lot of these people kind of came in in the past few weeks with severe, life-threatening, sometimes deadly COVID.

HUANG: She says their first shipments of Evusheld covered less than 1% of their immune-compromised population. The federal government controls distribution. It's ordered a total of 1.2 million doses and shipped about 300,000 so far. But around seven million people in the U.S. can benefit from the drug. The scarcity⁸ has forced doctors to rank their patients by risk. Dr. Raymund Razonable runs the monoclonal antibody treatment program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Mayo divided eligible⁹ patients into five tiers based on medical need.

RAYMUND RAZONABLE: They are considered equal when they are in that Tier 1 category, and it's just basically by luck, right? They happen to get randomly¹⁰ picked by, you know, the computer system.

HUANG: Razonable says it'll probably take months to get through the 3,000 people in that most vulnerable tier. The government allocates¹¹ Evusheld based on each state's adult population, and the approach doesn't prioritize where the need is greatest. So in some places, Evusheld is easier to get. Dr. Anne Zink, medical officer for Alaska, says her state has lots.

ANNE ZINK: We have not had the same demand, so we have not had to go to a lottery system. In fact, we are doing the opposite. We are trying to reach out to oncologists and to teams and be like, do you know this is out there?

HUANG: Zink, who's incoming president of the Association of State and Territorial¹² Health Officials, says the country's fractured health system leads to inequities. People who know where to go and what to ask for are most likely to survive. Back in Maryland, Dr. Vivian Cheung did a lot of sleuthing to get her Evusheld.

CHEUNG: I called the Department of Health. They were nice enough to give me a list of all the hospitals that received doses.

HUANG: She faxed doctor's notes to various hospitals and zeroed in on the University of Maryland hospital, which had the most doses.

CHEUNG: I started literally¹³ calling colleagues who work there, having friends to call colleagues who work there and finally got a dose.

HUANG: Getting the drug hasn't changed her daily life. She still doesn't go to the grocery store. But it's given her some peace of mind and some guilt¹⁴.

CHEUNG: I know the system. I know people who can pull strings¹⁵ for me. It's just wrong, right? Like, everything about this is wrong.

HUANG: Cheung now advocates online for Evusheld doses for others. She says it's helping¹⁶ her feel like she's earned hers.

Pien Huang, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SABZI'S "TASHAKORE")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

3 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

6 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

7 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

8 scarcity   

n.缺乏，不足，萧条

参考例句：

• The scarcity of skilled workers is worrying the government.熟练工人的缺乏困扰着政府。
• The scarcity of fruit was caused by the drought.水果供不应求是由于干旱造成的。

9 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

10 randomly   

adv.随便地，未加计划地

参考例句：

• Within the hot gas chamber, molecules are moving randomly in all directions. 在灼热的气体燃烧室内，分子在各个方向上作无规运动。 来自辞典例句
• Transformed cells are loosely attached, rounded and randomly oriented. 转化细胞则不大贴壁、圆缩并呈杂乱分布。 来自辞典例句

11 allocates   

分配，分派( allocate的第三人称单数 )； 把…拨给

参考例句：

• The state allocates huge funds for the development of aid-agriculture industries. 国家拨出大批资金，发展支农工业。
• The value that then I create value allocates part to discuss. 于是我把价值创造的价值分配分别开来论述。

12 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

13 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

14 guilt   

n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责

参考例句：

• She tried to cover up her guilt by lying.她企图用谎言掩饰自己的罪行。
• Don't lay a guilt trip on your child about schoolwork.别因为功课责备孩子而使他觉得很内疚。

15 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。