Monoclonal antibodies could considerably reduce the threat from the coronavirus, as they have been found to reduce viral loads before infection becomes severe, something that other once-promising drugs such as hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin have failed to do.

Yet, although monoclonal antibodies were given emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration in November, they were not widely used during the winter surge when thousands of people died. The therapy is still not a treatment in widespread use in much of the nation.

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