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North Carolina Expands Access To COVID-19 Therapy

A nurse holds a swab and test tube kit to test people for COVID-19. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

North Carolina is expanding the number of sites offering an experimental treatment for COVID-19. 

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has announced several new locations that are offering monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of the virus.

The therapy is now available by appointment at the Health Foundation in North Wilkesboro. Locations have also been added in Robeson, Johnston, and Harnett counties. 

In the Piedmont Triad, Cone Health, Novant Health, and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist continue to offer treatments.

Monoclonal antibodies are produced in a lab and administered to a patient either intravenously or through a shot.

The treatment is designed to boost your immune system and help the body fight off infection.

Studies show that the treatment can be effective in reducing the risk of hospitalization. But health officials are quick to point out that it is not a substitute for vaccination, which they believe is the best protection against serious illness, hospitalization, or death from COVID-19.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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