Updated: January 5, 2022
Antiviral and Antibody Treatments for COVID-19

Your country may have access to different combinations of treatments for COVID-19. These include dexamethasone (steroid), remdesivir (antiviral), and some monoclonal antibody (‘biological’) medications such as tocilizumab, baricitinib, and sarilumab.
The choice doctors make as to which type of treatments also depends on:
a. Whether you need to be in hospital because of the severity of your infection
b. Whether you need supplemental oxygen
c. Whether you need the oxygen through a high-flow device (called non-invasive ventilation), or
d. Whether you need intensive care support of your breathing or other oxygenation of blood through specialized equipment.
In addition, doctors may have new antiviral and antibody treatments for COVID-19 such as molnupiravir (antiviral) and sotrovimab (monoclonal antibody or ‘biological’ medicine). In general, at present these new treatments are given to people who are high risk for severe complications of COVID-19 and who have caught the virus.
The list of high-risk conditions has not changed much since 2020. It does not include EDS or HSD per se, but a person with EDS or HSD may have one of these conditions.
These conditions at high risk include some people who have:
- Down’s syndrome
- a rare condition affecting the brain or nerves (including multiple sclerosis, motor neurone disease, Huntington’s disease, or myasthenia gravis)
- sickle cell disease
- certain types of cancer
- HIV or AIDS
- a severe liver condition (such as cirrhosis)
- chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 4 or 5
- had an organ transplant
- certain autoimmune or inflammatory conditions (such as rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease)
- a condition or treatment that makes you more likely to get infections
- had certain types of chemotherapy in the last 12 months
- had radiotherapy in the last 6 months