Q & A: Mosaic COVID-19 Treatment

The information below—provided by Jessica LeBlanc, MD, MPH and Mosaic’s Chief Health Officer—includes answers to commonly asked questions regarding the assessment of or treatment for COVID-19. Responses include links to relevant scientific papers.

Q: Can Mosaic providers prescribe Ivermectin for treatment or prevention of COVID-19?
A: No, this is not effective, and can have potentially harmful side effects. Ivermectin is an anti-parasitic, meaning it fights against parasites; COVID-19 is a virus and requires treatment with an anti-viral (a medication that fights against viruses). More information:

• https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/why-you-should-not-use-ivermectin-treat-or-prevent-covid-19
• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2777389/

Q: Can Mosaic providers prescribe hydroxychloroquine for treatment or prevention of COVID-19?
A: No, this is not effective, and can have potentially harmful side effects. More information:

• https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-cautions-against-use-hydroxychloroquine-or-chloroquine-covid-19-outside-hospital-setting-or
• https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2772922

Q: Can Mosaic providers prescribe monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapy for treatment of COVID-19?
A: Yes. Mosaic providers can prescribe subcutaneous injections of mAb therapy for eligible patients at our Redmond and Madras clinics. Eligible patients can also be referred by their Mosaic provider for intravenous infusion treatments of mAb therapy through St. Charles Health System.
Note: mAb therapy is also known by the medicine name REGEN-COVTM (Casirivimab and Imdevimab), which is manufactured by biotechnology company Regeneron®.

Q: Can Mosaic check for COVID-19 antibodies?
A: We are not currently checking for antibodies to COVID-19, or antibody levels.
Note: Antibodies are the cells that fight infection. Specific antibodies develop for specific diseases after a vaccine or after exposure to the disease. If you have been exposed to COVID-19, or if you receive a COVID-19 vaccine, then you will develop antibodies to the virus.
Reasons that we do not test for COVID-19 antibodies:

• There are a variety of COVID-19 antibody tests to choose from, and many of them have a high percentage of false positive results (show that a patient has antibodies when they really do not) and false negative results (show that a patient does not have antibodies, when they really do).
• We do not have any data on how long the COVID-19 antibodies last in a patient, and this may vary from patient to patient depending on exposure and COVID-19 variant.
• We do not have a reliable COVID-19 antibody test in the community at present that we can order or interpret with proper sensitivity and specificity.
• Regardless of the results of a COVID-19 antibody test, the clinical management in primary care will not change. If you have been exposed, the COVID-19 vaccine is still recommended since we have evidence that the vaccine will further boost a patient’s immunity to the COVID-19 virus.