ANNAPOLIS, MD—Governor Larry Hogan this week announced new efforts to help Maryland nursing homes prepare for a winter surge of COVID-19.

“We continue to work closely with our nursing homes to protect our most vulnerable residents against COVID-19,” said Governor Hogan. “Just as these facilities offer vaccines and booster shots, we want to make sure they are offering antibody treatments as soon as any outbreaks occur. Again, from everything we know about these variants, the most important thing Marylanders can do right now is get vaccinated and get a booster shot.”

Monoclonal Antibody Treatments

State health officials have issued a new directive requiring nursing homes to offer approved or authorized COVID-19 therapeutic treatments—including monoclonal antibody treatments—to residents upon identification of an outbreak.

Monoclonal antibody treatments are strongly recommended for COVID-positive individuals to lessen the severity of symptoms and help keep high-risk patients out of the hospital. There are dozens of facilities offering monoclonal antibody treatments in Maryland.

Hospital Actions Announced Earlier This Week

Earlier this week, the governor announced a series of additional actions to help hospitals prepare for a further surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations due to the convergence of Delta and Omicron variants.

New Vaccine Incentive for Medicaid Patients

Also this week, a new incentive program was launched to encourage more Medicaid patients to get vaccinated.

Photo via Pixabay