CDC Urges Immunocompromised People to Take Precautions After Evusheld Pulled

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday urged people with weak immune systems to take extra precautions to avoid Covid after dominant omicron subvariants knocked out a key antibody treatment.

These precautions include wearing a high-quality mask and social distancing when avoiding crowded spaces is impossible, according to the CDC.

management It comes after the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday withdrew its approval for Evushheld, a combined antibody injection that people with weak immune systems have been taking as an extra layer of protection to prevent Covid infection.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recalled Evusheld because it is not effective against 95% of the omicron sub-variants circulating in the US. This includes sub-variants of XBB. which currently cause 64% of new casesas well as the BQ family responsible for 31% of reported infections.

While most Americans have largely returned to normal life after the Covid pandemic has subsided, people with weak immune systems are still at higher risk of severe illness because their immune response to vaccines is not as strong.

However, it’s important for people with weak immune systems to stay up to date on their Covid vaccines while receiving an Omicron booster because the shots can reduce the risk of severe illness, according to the CDC.

If you have a weak immune system and develop symptoms of Covid, you should get tested as soon as possible and receive antiviral treatment within five to seven days, according to the CDC.

Available antivirals include paxlovid, remdesivir, or molnupiravir, but patients should talk to their doctor to find out which treatment is best. Some people can’t accept Paxlovid because of how it interacts with other drugs they take.

People with weak immune systems include cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplant patients who are taking transplant drugs, people with advanced HIV infection, and people who were born with immunodeficiency.

According to the CDC, about 7 million adults in the US have a condition such as cancer that compromises their immune systems.