Alberta rolls out its first outpatient COVID-19 treatment, but experts warn it's not a vaccine substitute

As Alberta offers a new COVID-19 treatment to unvaccinated seniors and some transplant recipients — in their own homes — experts caution this is not a replacement for vaccination.

Sotrovimab is a monoclonal antibody treatment — administered intravenously and  authorized for use by Health Canada in July — designed to boost the body's immune response with antibodies created in a lab that target the virus. It was developed to treat patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms

Alberta began a phased roll-out on Tuesday which initially includes people 65 and over who test positive but have not received any doses of the COVD-19 vaccine as well as solid organ transplant and stem cell transplant recipients who are COVID-positive regardless of their vaccination status.

"It is the first treatment to be offered to outpatients in Alberta," said Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer of health, at a news conference on Tuesday.

Community paramedics administer the IV therapy in patients' homes in regions where these teams are in place. The treatment will be offered in an Alberta Health Services clinic for people living in the Fort McMurray area.

"For maximum effectiveness it must be administered within five days from when the symptoms begin," said Hinshaw.

"The treatment is being rolled out in a phased approach starting with those at the highest risk of severe outcomes like hospitalization."

According to the Alberta Health Services website, Sotrovimab "is reported to have the potential to prevent one hospital admission for every 20 patients who receive treatment."

"The early results have been quite encouraging. But this doesn't prevent infection. This simply stops progression to severe disease," said Craig Jenne, associate professor in the department of microbiology, immunology and infectious diseases at the University of Calgary and member of the Snyder Institute for Chronic Diseases.

"The original clinical trial was suggesting that people who became infected and received this therapy had about an 80 per cent reduction in their risk of being admitted to hospital with severe illness."

While the treatment holds promise, Jenne is worried its limited benefits could be misconstrued.

"Absolutely there may be people who are looking at this as an alternative to vaccination. And really it can't be stressed enough that it's not," he warned.

"This is meant to treat people that are at high risk of — once being infected — being admitted to the hospital. So this is really an effort to preserve healthcare capacity. This will not stop new infections. This will not stop individuals from becoming infected and things such as long COVID."

University of Alberta infectious disease physician Dr. Ilan Schwartz said this treatment could offer another layer of protection for vulnerable  transplant recipients who can still get very sick and die despite being triple vaccinated.