Minneapolis among 7 cities CVS will administer COVID-19 therapy to long-term care patients, at homes

CVS Health will begin administering a limited supply of a recently approved COVID-19 therapy to eligible patients at long-term care facilities and at patients’ homes.

The company said it was chosen Wednesday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pilot the use of bamlanivimab to treat COVID-19 patients at risk of severe infection.

Coram, the specialty pharmacy and infusion care part of CVS Health, will administer the intravenous therapy to help meet the growing demand for the treatments using its more than 800 certified nurses across the country.

CVS said Coram has also partnered with hospitals to safely transition eligible patients home to help ensure maximum hospital capacity for coronavirus patients as virus rates surge across the U.S.

MDH: Minnesota receives small supply of new therapy drug that decreases need for hospitalizations, emergency visits

The first 1,000 doses of monoclonal antibody therapies to treat COVID-19 will start to be administered by Coram on Dec. 3 in seven cities and their surrounding communities: Minneapolis, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los Angeles, Milwaukee and Tampa. Once the supply increases, Coram will scale the solution to additional markets in greatest need.

To be eligible for the treatment, patients must not be hospitalized, be within 10 days of symptom onset, at least 12 years old, weigh at least 88 pounds and be at a high risk for progressing severe disease or hospitalization.

CVS said patients can be referred to Coram for treatment from a hospital, urgent care or telemedicine appointment, long-term care facility or their primary care physician after testing positive. There will be no out-of-pocket cost to patients for the care.