Mount Druitt Hospital is one of the locations delivering a new monoclonal antibody treatment, Sotrovimab, for people with COVID-19, who are at the greatest risk of severe illness.

The STOPS – or Sotrovimab Treatment in an Outpatient Setting – clinic is for COVID-19 patients being managed in the community by Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD).

A key international trial of this monoclonal antibody treatment, has shown a reduction in hospitalisation in adults with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, who are at risk of developing severe COVID-19.

Sotrovimab was provisionally approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) in August this year. NSW Health has worked with the Commonwealth to access some supply of this ground-breaking drug for NSW patients. 

The STOPS clinic offers western Sydney a new way of treating COVID-19 for the most vulnerable in the community. 51-year-old Catherine Dennis was the first patient to receive the new, potentially-lifesaving treatment at the STOPS clinic in Mount Druitt Hospital.

To be eligible for the Sotrovimab treatment, patients must have had a positive COVID-19 test within the last 5 days, be aged over 55, have one or more risk factors such as diabetes, obesity, or moderate-to-severe asthma and are being managed in the community.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with COVID aged 35 or older are also eligible.

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