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HEALTH
Coronavirus COVID-19

Tennessee may run low on monoclonal antibodies that treat COVID-19 as feds cap shipments to protect supply

Tiffany Lessenberry, a nurse, administers a COVID-19 antibody treatment to a patient at Vanderbilt University Medical Center on Friday, January 29, 2021 in Nashville, Tenn.
Brett Kelman
Nashville Tennessean

Tennessee may soon face a shortage of critical drugs used to combat the coronavirus after the federal government capped shipments because a few southern states gobbled up most of the national supply.

Monoclonal antibody drugs are given to COVID-19 patients, most of whom are unvaccinated, so their illnesses do not become severe enough for hospitalization. Infusion treatment is offered at more than 200 Tennessee locations and have been widely promoted by Gov. Bill Lee and some other southern governors.

Lee said Friday that his administration will look for other sources for the antibody drugs in an effort to “fill the gap” between what the state is using now and what the federal government may provide in the coming weeks.