100% Austin news, info, and entertainment, straight to your inbox at 6 a.m. every morning.
In five minutes, you're fully informed and ready to start another great day in our city.
New monoclonal antibody treatments targeting people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and only just developed symptoms have been shown to reduce the severity of the disease and prevent hospitalizations.
The FDA has granted emergency use authorization for two treatments. Both are offered via IV and take about an hour to administer, plus some check-in and monitoring time. The treatments take place in a hospital or clinic setting and are meant to help neutralize the virus in patients who have already become ill.
Two pharmaceutical companies have FDA authorization for their monoclonal antibody treatments. Each has a hotline to help locate treatment providers:
- Regeneron: 844-734-6643
- Eli Lilly: 855-545-5921
Many area hospitals and private infusion centers are also offering monoclonal antibody treatments to COVID patients. The National Infusion Center, an Austin-based trade association, has created a locator tool, which shows 20 such sites within a 30-mile radius. But CEO Brian Nyquist cautions that many may be operating at or near capacity, given the current surge and their pre-existing, non-COVID clientele.
Additionally, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the opening of a pop-up infusion center outside of the Montopolis CommUnity Care location earlier this month. Area hospital systems have donated Regeneron supplies to ensure steady—and free—treatment remains available.
One week into its operations, the center is treating around 26 COVID patients each day. Patients must be referred by area physicians or contacted by Austin Public Health and CommUnity Care after receiving a positive test result for COVID at one of their sites.
Although the center is ramping up its capacity, with a goal of treating 75 patients each day, demand will likely continue to outpace supply, similar to the vaccine rollout. "With uncontrolled spread throughout the community, we expect to keep seeing high demand," EMS System Deputy Medical Director Dr. Jason Pickett said Wednesday.
Because the drugs remain under an emergency use authorization, it is given only to priority patients, including those populations at highest risk of being hospitalized with—or dying from—COVID. These include the elderly, communities of color and those without insurance.
State and local officials say monoclonal antibody treatments are an important tool to help reduce hospitalizations, especially as ICUs across the Austin metro near capacity.
More on COVID:
Updated: Want to be added to a vaccine waitlist? Here's where to sign up
- Austin opens COVID field hospital as ICUs near capacity - austonia ›
- We Are Blood requests funding for convalescent plasma program ... ›
- Plasma may help COVID-19, Austin doctors say as they join national ... ›
- Antibody tests show up in Austin, but not all are FDA approved ... ›
- Austin monoclonal antibodies treatment center expands - austonia ›
Popular
(Dolce Neve)
He's since been offering that same experience for the past seven years with his artisanal gelato shop, Dolce Neve, in Austin, alongside his sister and her husband.
Leo Ferrarese, Marco and Franscesa Silvestrini run Dolce Neve. (Dolce Neve)
While gelato always played a big role in Silvestrini's life, it wasn't in his plans to take on a business with his favorite treat. After a few years in New York working as a management consultant, he felt he was missing out on something. "I decided to take a step back and started thinking, what could... I do to make society better and happier, even just for a moment," Silvestrini said.
He thought back to his childhood and the role gelato played in it and wanted to offer the same experience to Americans.
Once he had the product idea down, it came down to location. Growing up among farmers in a small community in Central Italy, Silvestrini knew he wanted a slower pace of living than New York, so he asked around. The answer he got: "Austin." The only thing he knew about what would become his future home was it had a Formula 1 track.
But after visiting once, he felt a great sense of community he didn't feel in The Empire State. "I felt it was not just a good place for a concept like mine, but also a good place to live because at the end of the day, you cannot just think about your business," he said.
"Dolce Neve" translates to "sweet snow." The shops offers 12-18 flavors at a time. (Dolce Neve)
Similarly, his sister Francesca Silvestrini was experiencing the same feelings while studying for her Ph.D. in Ohio before teaming up with Silvestrini. She went back to Italy to be properly trained in making gelato while Silvestrini focused on the business plan. They brought Leo Ferrarese, her husband, onboard and opened their first shop on South First Street in January 2014. The rest is history.
On the menu, you'll find various traditional and innovative flavors that rotate out. Some of the staples include chocolate, 100% vanilla from Madagascar and salted caramel. Other rotating or seasonal flavors include whiskey and pecan, organic cantaloupe sorbet, goat cheese and pecan, almond custard and tiramisu. They've created over 300 flavors together in the span of the business.
So what's next for the shop? Lately, Silvestrini has been thinking a lot about that. With two locations in Austin, one in Houston—he's just not sure if expanding more is the right move. Maintaining a quality product and good service is of utmost importance that he's not willing to sacrifice.
"In order to be happy, it's not about making money, it's about being an integral part of the community," Silvestrini said. "There have been so many cases in which I think what I did today really made a difference in somebody's life."
