Over 1,700 Patients Receiving Ground-Breaking Covid-19 Treatments

More than 1,700 patients at highest risk of serious illness across NI have received ground-breaking Covid-19 treatments.

The patients have received neutralising monoclonal antibody (nMAB) and antiviral treatments at Health and Social Care (HSC) Trust Outpatient COVID-19 Treatment services (OCTs), or oral antiviral medicine to take at home.

During a visit to the OCT at Belfast's Mater Hospital, Health Minister Robin Swann thanked the team reviewing and providing the treatments to patients at the highest risk of illness from COVID-19 infection.

Mr Swann said: "It's very encouraging to hear that the most vulnerable patients in Northern Ireland are now benefiting from these ground-breaking medicines.

"These effective new treatments have been rolled out across Northern Ireland at pace and I want to commend clinical teams in our Health and Social Care Trusts who have worked exceptionally hard to ensure a quick set up, and the resilience that all the teams have shown to keep the service going in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Monoclonal antibodies and antivirals have been shown to improve survival and recovery time and provide an additional layer of support for patients. The roll-out of these treatments to the most vulnerable patients is a significant milestone in our continuing battle against COVID-19."

The Mater Hospital is the OCT site for Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (BHSCT). This is one of six sites across the HSC trusts in Northern Ireland.

Dr Mark Cross, Deputy Medical Director and Clinical Lead for nMAB service at Belfast Trust, said: "Treatments previously only available to people who were hospitalised with the virus are now being offered to a limited group of eligible patients at highest risk of harm from COVID-19 in the community. These new treatments are used in the earliest stages of infection and need to be administered as soon as possible after a confirmed positive PCR test has been received or a positive lateral flow test result has been registered. The intravenous treatments are delivered in approximately 90 minutes."

The Minister concluded: "The vaccination programme remains our first line of defence against COVID-19 but these treatments enable us to maximise our ability to protect vulnerable patients and prevent them from serious illness, thus helping to ease pressures on the health service."